1“  S  >  i*  '??■!»  i!  1 


Ctbrary  of  Che  Cheolocjieal  ^etninarp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 


•3  ^^8* 

IX i  <3  £  z 
.  S6*H 


ON  THE  TRAIL 
OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO  •  DALLAS 
.  ATLANTA  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 


THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


'Mmmmm ; 


HIS  HOLINESS  MELETIOS 

The  Greek  Patriarch,  Constantinople.  President  World  Alliance 
of  Churches  for  International  Friendship. 


ON  THE  TRAIL 
OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


BY^ 

FRED  B.  SMITH 


jgtto  got* 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1922 


All  rights  reserved 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


Copyright,  1922, 

By  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.  Published  September,  1922. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  An  Explanation 


V.  Japan.  - 


VI.  China.  - 


II.  Is  Modern  Civilization  Doomed? 

III.  In  the  Heart  of  America  .  . 

IV.  Honolulu . 

Part  One . 

Part  Two . 

Part  One . 

_ Part  Two . 

VII.  Singapore . 

VIII.  India  . . 

IX.  Egypt . . 

X.  Palestine . 

XI.  Constantinople . 

XII.  Continental  Europe  .... 

XIII.  Great  Britain . 

XIV.  America . 

XV.  The  Christian  Church  .  .  . 

XVI.  The  Cloud  behind  the  Clouds  . 

XVII.  Conclusions . 


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217 


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ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE 
PEACEMAKERS 


CHAPTER  I 
AN  EXPLANATION 

WHATEVER  of  value  there  may  be  to  the 
reader  of  the  following  chapters  or  to  the 
cause  represented,  will  be  very  much  aug¬ 
mented  by  the  privilege  of  a  few  personal  comments  by 
the  author. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  well  to  know  that  most  of  the 
articles  were  written  before  there  was  any  thought  of 
their  taking  permanent  form  and  were  the  record  of 
incidents  and  impressions  at  the  time  of  the  visits  to 
each  of  the  nations  referred  to.  When  it  was  thought 
important  to  have  them  appear  in  the  present  form  the 
purpose  was  to  rewrite  or  at  least  so  to  reedit  that  there 
would  be  more  of  continuous  logic  and  of  sequence  in 
the  whole.  But  several  intensely  interested  persons  of 
literary  ability  strongly  advised  against  any  essential 
change  and  they  therefore  appear  practically  as  written 
en  route. 

In  the  second  place,  those  who  read  must  also  keep 
in  mind  that  many  themes  of  particular  interest,  espe¬ 
cially  of  a  political  character,  are  not  dealt  with  be- 


i 


2  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


cause  they  did  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  com¬ 
mission  under  which  the  work  was  done.  The  first 
chapter  reveals  the  fundamental  issue  of  the  book  and 
of  the  tour.  Are  wre  to  have  a  world  of  more  war  or 
peace,  of  hate  or  brotherhood,  of  jealousy  or  friend¬ 
ship,  of  despair  or  hope?  This  was  the  central  issue 
and  a  desire  to  help  a  little,  if  possible,  in  realizing  the 
first  alternative,  was  the  objective. 

The  last  chapter  is  the  summary  of  it  all  and  gives 
the  conclusions,  so  far  as  they  are  correct,  upon  which 
the  Christian  Church  and  all  peace-loving  people  must 
go  forward.  All  that  is  found  between  must  be  re¬ 
garded  as  so  much  evidence  to  be  accepted  for  what  it 
is  worth,  sifted  out  and  used  only  where  it  helps  one  to 
understand  the  real  situation,  makes  known  the 
methods,  and  inspires  continued  effort. 

The  complete  facts  must  be  valued  not  as  coming 
from  the  mind  of  a  technical  expert,  for  the  writer  is 
not  an  authority  upon  Internationalism,  but  more  as  the 
honest  record  of  what  capable  witnesses  testified  to, 
concerning  the  signs  of  the  times  in  many  lands. 

I  was  invited  to  go  forth  as  a  messenger  of  the 
“World  Alliance  for  International  Friendship  through 
the  Churches”  and  under  the  joint  auspices  of  that  or¬ 
ganization  and  the  “Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America”  and  also  advantaged  by  the  un¬ 
official  commendation  of  the  following  allied  Christian 
societies:  The  World  Alliance  of  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association ;  The  International  Committee  of 
Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations;  The  World’s 
Committee  of  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion;  The  World’s  Sunday  School  Association;  The 
World’s  Christian  Endeavor  Union. 


AN  EXPLANATION, 


3 


Particular  reference  ought  to  be  made  to  the  good 
offices,  so  freely  extended  by  the  officials  of  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  in  every  nation  and  in 
every  city;  very  much  less  would  have  been  possible  of 
accomplishment  in  many  places  but  for  this  assistance. 

Of  all  the  contributing  elements  no  single  one  was  so 
significant  as  the  fact  that  upon  the  day  before  my  leav¬ 
ing  for  the  West,  President  Harding  invited  to  the 
White  House  over  one  hundred  Christian  leaders  and 
public  men  and  said  a  few  words  of  hearty,  earnest 
farewell  and  appreciation  of  the  purpose  of  the  tour. 

Among  other  things  he  said: 

“Bishop  McDowell  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  am 
very  glad  to  welcome  you  here  to-day,  not  only  because 
of  the  organizations  you  represent,  but  because  of  the 
peculiar  interest  you  have  in  the  great  problems  of 
international  friendship  involved  in  the  tour  which 
Mr.  Smith  is  to  undertake. 

“ I  do  not  need  any  spur  to  arouse  my  interest  in 
this  question,  and  I  am  quite  sure  America  wishes 
to  have  only  most  cordial  relations  with  all  the  nations, 
and  seeks  only  good  for  every  one  of  them.  I  have 
never  been  known  as  an  extreme  pacifist,  but  I  am  in 
this  hour  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of 
the  world.  Personally  I  have  been  preaching  the  gospel 
of  understanding ,  in  the  belief  that  if  all  the  people  of 
the  world  may  come  to  understand  each  other  better, 
that  doctrine  will  eventually  produce  a  tranquil  world. 
America’s  attitude  upon  these  questions  is  best  ex¬ 
plained  perhaps  by  the  approaching  conference  upon  the 
limitation  of  armaments  which  we  have  called  to¬ 
gether,  and  in  the  success  of  which  all  of  our  citizens 
are  so  deeply  concerned. 

“I  wish  you  all  success  in  your  undertaking,  and  you, 


4  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Mr.  Smith,  in  the  tour  you  are  now  to  carry  out,  and 
express  the  hope  that  it  will  result  in  great  good  to  the 
lasting  friendship  of  the  nations  you  are  to  visit.” 

In  view  of  the  constant  indictment  of  war,  as  a  way 
by  which  peoples  may  hope  to  adjust  their  differences, 
which  will  be  found  in  every  chapter,  I  wish  to  make 
clearly  apparent  that  I  am  not  arguing  for  an  unpoliced 
world.  I  was  in  Boston  one  evening  when  I  could  look 
out  of  one  window  of  my  room  in  the  hotel  and  see  the 
majestic  spire  of  Trinity  Church,  where  the  great 
Bishop  Phillips  Brooks  presided  with  such  dignity  and 
preached  such  a  high  type  of  Christianity.  From  an¬ 
other  window  I  could  see  the  domes  of  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity,  one  of  the  highest  spots  of  Western  culture. 
But  when  I  wished  to  go  out  for  a  short  distance  to  call 
upon  a  friend,  the  porter  at  the  door  stopped  me  and 
said,  “You  are  not  permitted  to  go  out ;  it  is  not  prudent 
to  be  on  the  streets  of  Boston  to-night,  for  the  police¬ 
men  are  on  strike.” 

Churches  and  universities  combined  had  not  carried 
society  to  a  point  where  police  protection  was  unnec¬ 
essary.  The  lawless  and  the  violent  of  earth  can  be 
answered  only  by  force  and  they  will  doubtless  be  found 
among  men  to  the  end  of  time.  But  this  book  is  wriL 
ten  in  the  conviction  that  police  protection  against  these 
and  armed  force  for  aggression,  or  for  adjusting  in- 
temational  questions,  are  two  entirely  different  prin¬ 
ciples.  It  is  presented  in  the  further  conviction  that 
war  as  such  an  implement  can  be  and  must  be  elimi¬ 
nated  from  the  scene  of  human  struggle. 


CHAPTER  II 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED? 

Where  All  the  Prophets  Have  Failed 

WHAT  follows  in  succeeding  chapters  is  the  re¬ 
sult  of  a  sudden  awakening  which  came  to  the 
author  and  seemed  to  be  shared  by  millions  of 
people,  not  in  one  part  of  the  world  or  of  any  one  race 
or  tongue,  but  by  all  kinds  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

Up  to  1914  for  a  considerable  number  of  years  hu¬ 
manity  had  been  moving  along  rather  complacently. 
People  were  fairly  prosperous  and  the  methods  of  wel¬ 
fare  and  uplift  for  the  needy  were  being  worked  upon 
a  pretty  satisfactory  basis,  at  least  enough  to  grant  a 
measure  of  consolation  to  the  benevolently  minded  and 
to  give  them  the  delightful  prestige  of  being  “gener¬ 
ous.” 

Eleemosynary  societies  were  springing  up  every¬ 
where,  with  romantic  prophecies  of  good,  followed  by 
“reports  of  great  progress.’’ 

The  representatives  of  Western  Christianity,  who 
had  gone  out  to  the  non-Christians,  were  telling  thrill¬ 
ing  tales  of  how  these  of  other  less  promising  faiths 
were  “crowding  around,  hungry  and  eager  for  Chris¬ 
tian  direction.” 

The  universities  and  colleges  had  been  saying  for 
more  than  a  generation  that  they  were  turning  out 

5 


6  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


graduates  with  such  altruistic,  socially  inclined  pur¬ 
poses  that  every  wrong  in  the  world  was  going  to  be 
righted. 

The  printing  presses  had  been  running  overtime  is¬ 
suing  papers  and  magazines  filled  with  brotherhood 
talk  and  plans  for  a  world  so  harmonious  that  every¬ 
thing  would  be  lovely. 

The  parliaments,  congresses,  and  legislatures  had 
been  going  through  a  change  of  function,  so  the  people 
were  told,  that  had  put  economics  in  a  second  place  and 
had  made  the  weal  of  human  folks  the  supreme  ques¬ 
tion.  They  had  legislated  about  everything  from  pre¬ 
natal  protection,  to  childhood,  to  maturity,  to  old  age 
and  proper  death  surroundings. 

Every  day  newspapers  told  a  new  story  of  the 
“treaties”  being  signed  by  the  nations,  looking  to  clear 
understandings  and  cooperation.  It  seemed  as  though 
the  goodness  of  God  was  being  worked  out  upon  a 
constructive  plan  that  would  guarantee  security  for 
the  highest  good  of  everybody. 

Then,  as  though  the  devil  got  into  action,  the  clouds 
of  July,  1914,  gathered  and  the  guns  began  firing, 
rather  quietly  at  first,  across  the  Danube  River.  But 
the  momentum  gathered  and  the  great  World  War 
broke  with  its  fury,  to  last  for  more  than  four  terrible 
years.  But  even  so  amid  this  conflict  people  generally 
said,  “Well,  it  is  just  another  war.”  Worse,  true,  than 
others,  but  after  all  just  war. 

Like  most  things  in  human  joy  or  sorrow,  the  fight¬ 
ing  did  come  to  an  end.  Then  the  traditional  peace 
conference  was  held  and  the  papers  were  signed.  The 
victors  were  about  like  other  victors.  They  had  only 
the  past  records  to  go  by  and  so  in  their  deliberations 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  7 

they  followed  ancient  precedents.  They  readjusted 
geography  to  their  own  pleasure.  Then  they  tried  to 
make  out  a  bill  of  damage  to  the  losers  and  new  troubles 
arose.  No  statisticians  had  figures  enough  to  put  the 
claim  down  on  paper.  No  appraisers  could  be  found 
who  had  wisdom  enough  to  compute  the  loss.  No 
mathematicians  were  or  are  available  to  figure  out 
even  the  interest  charges,  to  say  nothing  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal.  Slowly  it  has  dawned  upon  everybody  that 
what  had  been  acclaimed  as  a  great  victory  has  de¬ 
veloped  into  a  confusion  so  complete  that  in  1922  there 
is  a  doubt  about  who  the  final  historians  will  say  really 
won  in  1918. 

Four  years  of  fighting  and  four  years  of  struggling 
to  find  the  platform  of  peace  were  necessary  for  the 
horror  of  the  thing  to  begin  to  sink  into  the  conscious¬ 
ness  of  humanity.  Now  the  world  is  being  flooded  with 
statements  from  great  people,  saying  this  present  civi¬ 
lization  is  wrecked  and  that  the  whole  thing  will  go  to 
the  refuse  heap  and  slowly  some  new  methods  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  education,  religion,  and  business  will  have  to 
be  evolved.  Not  foolish  men  or  crazy  people,  but  those 
whose  manner  of  life  and  training  command  respect,  are 
saying  things  like  this.  They  rest  their  conclusions 
upon  the  theory,  not  of  inability  to  see  some  adjust¬ 
ment  discovered  for  the  present  muddle,  bad  as  it  is,  but 
upon  the  conclusion  that  war  is  a  fixture  in  the  emer¬ 
gencies  of  national  and  international  grievances — that 
war  always  has  been  and  always  will  be ;  that  with  the 
progress  of  science  and  improved  methods  of  equip¬ 
ment  and  transportation  and  organization  it  will  grow 
more  severe,  more  destructive  with  each  generation. 
Therefore,  that  the  civilization  of  the  boasted  twentieth 


8  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


century  is  a  failure  and  is  doomed,  is  their  solemn  de¬ 
cision.  By  every  law  of  evidence  and  testimony,  if 
they  are  correct  in  their  first  theory  concerning  the  per¬ 
manence  of  war  as  a  method,  then  they  are  correct  in 
the  second. 

There  remains,  therefore,  just  one  all-important 
question  before  the  world ;  namely  to  find  some  plan  by 
which  the  principles  of  arbitration,  of  conference,  and 
of  reference  to  some  kind  of  a  High  World  Court,  may 
be  substituted  for  armed  conflict,  war,  and  slaughter  of 
human  beings  when  nations  differ  one  with  another. 
Everything  else  is  incidental,  secondary.  Nothing  else 
matters  much.  If  this  question  can  be  satisfactorily 
answered  and  a  better  way  of  life,  national  and  inter¬ 
national,  found,  other  problems  will  seem  compara¬ 
tively  easy.  If  this  attempt  is  a  failure  and  wars  and 
more  wars  come,  everything  held  of  value  will  be  de¬ 
stroyed  sooner  or  later. 

In  this  connection  it  is  tremendously  important  to 
shake  the  complacent  and  easygoing  out  of  the  soft  rea¬ 
soning,  which,  without  any  foundation,  seems  willing 
to  drift  along  in  a  kind  of  gambler’s  hope  that,  if  the 
thing  comes  again,  it  may  not  be  so  bad  as  it  was  last 
time.  It  would  be  a  great  boon  if  all  students  in 
schools,  all  church  members,  and  all  voters  could  be 
required  to  read  Will  Irwin’s,  “The  Next  War.’’ 
Reading  past  history  is  not  sufficient  education  upon 
the  terror  of  future  war.  One  more  upon  a  worldwide 
scale  and  the  wreck  so  nearly  complete  now  will  be 
finished. 

The  awful  shock,  the  terrible  awakening  is  to  the 
realization  that  the  common  expressions  heard  and  the 
views  quite  generally  held  about  war  were  false.  If  I 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  9 

may  speak  for  myself  at  this  point,  in  the  belief  that 
the  experience  referred  to  is  one  in  common  with  mul¬ 
titudes,  the  statement  will  be  made  in  the  form  of  a  con¬ 
fession.  Reared  in  a  life  where  wars  had  been  not  in¬ 
frequent,  and  the  tales  of  their  heroism  had  been  hearth¬ 
stone  stories,  they  had  become  to  me  a  sort  of  a  natural 
occurrence  to  be  expected  about  every  so  often.  Even 
when  the  older  maturer  years  came,  with  something  of 
a  dread  for  this  process,  they  produced  no  violent  reac¬ 
tion. 

But  1914  came  and  1915  and  1916  followed.  Bel¬ 
gium  was  invaded,  and  the  Lusitania  ruthlessly  sunk 
and  a  state  of  war  acknowledged.  I  then  took  my  part 
in  every  form  in  assisting  my  own  country  in  that 
struggle.  Through  the  cities  and  in  the  military  camps 
and  on  to  France  and  the  battlefields  by  every  method 
I  sought  to  do  my  share  in  prosecuting  to  success  that 
conflict.  The  tragedy  is  that,  as  did  many  others,  I 
said  that  there  were  large  beneficial  by-products  of  war 
which  would  in  total  compensate  for  the  losses.  It  was 
the  kind  of  argument  with  which  the  very  air  seemed 
filled.  The  memories  of  history  corroborated  that  view 
and  patriotism  demanded  it.  The  years  have  passed, 
the  terrible  facts  are  being  slowly  made  known.  Two 
visits  to  Europe  and  the  battle  scenes  since  1918  and 
one  tour  around  the  world  studying  the  conditions,  have 
led  to  the  calm,  profound  conviction  that  there  are  no 
“beneficial  by-products  of  war.”  I  now  believe  war  to 
be  a  total  loss,  from  the  time  the  first  shot  is  fired  till 
the  last  starved  baby  lies  down  dead  by  the  roadside. 
It  is  a  total  loss  to  the  vanquished  and  to  the  victors,  as 
judged  by  long  years. 

I  do  not  by  this  indict  all  those  who  were  in  authority 


10  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


in  1914  or  in  1917.  I  do  not  say  I  would  put  my  judg¬ 
ment  against  all  those  who  might  be  in  authority  in  my 
own  country  if  some  such  crisis  should  arise  again. 
But  the  contention  is  that  as  a  method  war  is  not  only 
futile  but  is  anti-Christian  and  unscientific,  and  belongs 
to  a  lower  order  than  the  sons  of  God.  The  belief  is 
held  that  the  hour  has  fully  come  when  this  method 
ought  to  be  forever  abolished  and  peaceful  ones  adopted 
for  adjusting  grievances. 

One  thing  is  certain :  never  again  under  any  circum¬ 
stances  can  I  say  the  things  about  war  which  were  ex¬ 
pressed  many  times  during  the  years  of  1916  to  1918. 
Instead  of  those  beneficial,  ennobling  dreams  there  re¬ 
mains  the  horror  of  the  wreckage  and  ruins  which  baf¬ 
fle  the  whole  human  race  in  its  attempt  to  rebuild  and 
start  again  the  God-intended  life. 

Leaving  out  ancient  and  older  history  with  its  doubt¬ 
ful  records,  there  are  some  present  facts  which  are  un¬ 
answerable  except  upon  the  theory  that  war  is  a  menace 
and  ought  to  be  outlawed. 

1.  War  Is  an  Enemy  of  All  Human  Progress 

I  think  I  am  an  evolutionist,  but  cannot  help  feeling 
a  degree  of  uncertainty  about  it,  in  view  of  the  many 
wide  differences  in  definition.  If  by  evolution  is  meant 
what  I  think  ought  to  be  meant,  then  that  theory  is 
accepted  heartily  as  being  historical,  scientific,  practical, 
and  Biblical.  God  surely  intends  the  human  race  to 
climb  its  way  up  by  sources  of  earnest  effort  in  the 
realm  of  culture,  education,  and  religion,  till  it  shall  find 
that  perfect  life  it  had  in  the  beginning  before  sin  had 
broken  the  ideals.  The  Creator  has  indelibly  stamped 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  n 


this  desire,  this  passion,  this  purpose  in  the  human 
heart.  A  study  of  the  various  races  of  men  in  their 
lowest  state  will  establish  this  universal  impulse.  The 
untutored,  the  uncivilized,  and  the  wild  men  will  re¬ 
spond  to  a  higher  hope  when  brought  in  contact  with 
schools  and  churches.  This  is  one  of  the  marks  of  the 
divine  and  immortal  in  man.  The  lower  animals  do 
not  so  develop. 

God’s  plan  for  His  own  image  is  progress.  War  is 
the  exact  opposite.  Its  results  are  always  debasing. 

One  of  the  books  worth  reading  often  is  that  by 
David  Starr  Jordan  entitled  “The  Biological  Results 
of  War,”  in  which  the  great  educator  reveals  this  crime 
against  the  human  family  in  its  struggle  to  rise.  War 
as  now  conducted  makes  its  first  call  upon  youth.  As 
at  present  conceived,  it  reaps  its  first  harvest  of  death 
from  youth.  In  the  Great  War  50,000,000  of  earth’s 
noblest  youth  were  torn  from  natural  normal  life  and 
hurled  into  the  holocaust  of  butchery,  and  11,000,000 
of  these  were  killed  in  battle.  They  were  the  purest  of 
blood,  the  finest  of  muscle,  the  bravest  of  heart.  The 
battle  claims  first  those  of  dauntless,  daring  courage. 
The  cowards  usually  find  shelter.  From  1914  to  1918 
there  were  sacrificed  in  death  by  battle  11,000,000  of 
the  best  breeders  of  the  world — young  men  out  of 
whose  loins  ought  to  have  gone  reproduction  in  kind 
to  carry  on  the  upward  climb  of  the  race. 

Millions  more  shell-shocked,  wounded,  crippled,  and 
diseased  have  been  scattered  over  the  earth,  to  produce 
in  many  cases  offspring  far  below  the  standard  which 
might  have  been  but  for  war  legacies.  The  whole  world 
was  more  or  less  brutalized  by  the  process.  A  genera¬ 
tion  was  trained  to  read  without  a  tremor  of  10,000  or 


12  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


20,000  killed  in  one  day — of  men  being  buried  alive  on 
bayonet  hill  at  Verdun — of  thousands  gassed,  writhing, 
shrieking  in  agony  of  a  death  worse  than  Dante  knew 
or  wrote  about,  and  of  thousands  more  every  day  who 
were  caught,  like  rats  in  a  trap,  on  ships  which  were 
submarined  and  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  War 
demands  that  participants  shall  be  taught  to  glory,  hold 
celebrations,  and  have  victory  festivals,  in  measure 
comparable  to  the  dead  in  the  enemy  country.  War 
kills  us  off  at  the  top.  It  is  like  cutting  off  all  the  buds 
from  the  fruit  trees  and  the  gardens  in  the  spring  time. 

No  prophets  live  who  dare  attempt  even  to  hint  at 
what  those  11,000,000  prematurely  dead  youths  might 
have  meant  to  future  history  if  they  could  have  been 
saved  to  live  the  natural  life  God  meant  for  them.  The 
prophet  has  not  appeared  who  is  farseeing  enough  to 
suggest  how  long  it  will  take  the  average  people  of  the 
whole  world  to  climb  their  way  back  to  where  they 
were  in  1914.  As  an  ordinary  traveler,  a  layman  with 
no  scientific  ambitions,  one  who  has  circled  the  world 
completely  four  times,  I  unhesitatingly  say  that  I  be¬ 
lieve  it  will  take  a  hundred  years  to  heal  the  wounds 
and  put  the  program  of  human  progress  back  where 
it  was  in  the  pre-war  years. 

God  is  the  friend  of  peace,  good  will,  and  progress 
for  humanity.  The  devil  is  the  champion  of  war,  hate, 
and  defeat  for  humanity’s  hope  of  a  better  existence. 
No  friend  of  God  can  be  an  advocate  of  war. 

2.  War  Is  an  Enemy  of  Sound  Economics  and 

Prosperity 

I  am  one  of  those  who  strongly  believe  that  God 
never  meant  any  human  being  to  starve  to  death. 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  13 

Wherever  those  of  His  creation  perish  for  want  of 
food,  the  cause  can  be  found  in  somebody's  greed. 
The  divine  solicitude  is  so  great  for  human  need  that 
in  all  time  the  rains  have  been  enough,  the  sunshine 
sufficient,  and  the  soil  so  fertile,  that  the  earth  has 
produced  such  a  yield  that  all  could  eat  and  none  be 
hungry.  Famine  has  been  the  work  of  greedy  men, 
who  for  gain  will  block  distribution  and  juggle  with 
prices. 

During  the  two  recent  terrible  famines,  one  in  Rus¬ 
sia  and  the  other  in  China,  while  at  the  same  time 
countless  numbers  were  perishing  by  cold  and  freezing, 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  United  States  the  people 
were  burning  up  cotton,  to  brace  up  the  market.  In  the 
northwest  the  ranchmen  were  letting  the  sheep  go  un¬ 
sheared  and  the  wool  was  permitted  to  drop  off  to  waste, 
to  brace  up  the  market.  In  the  central  west,  they  were 
using  beautiful  corn  for  fuel,  rather  than  the  trade, 
to  brace  up  the  market. 

God’s  provision  has  been  continuous  and  abundant. 
Men’s  greed  sometimes  causes  famines  in  parts  of  the 
world.  But  of  all  the  famine-producing,  God-defying 
methods  which  history  records,  no  other  has  ever  ap¬ 
proached  war  as  a  dispenser  of  starvation,  famine,  and 
pestilence.  If  the  data  could  be  assembled  covering  the 
dead  by  hunger  toll  of  all  the  generations,  I  am  sure  the 
proportion  charged  to  war  would  be  more  than  that 
assigned  to  all  other  causes  combined  in  human  experi¬ 
ence.  Drought,  insects,  storms,  floods,  and  fires  may 
have  called  thousands  to  death  before  their  natural 
time,  but  war  has  claimed  its  tens  of  thousands  by 
hunger  and  practically  all  of  them  innocent  women, 
children,  and  the  infirm.  But  it  has  done  more — it  has 


14  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

upset  the  legitimate  natural  processes  of  the  economic 
order.  The  world  is  best  off  when  all  the  people  are 
having  a  fair  chance  in  the  commercial  world  and  the 
many  are  reasonably  prosperous.  The  war  has  played 
havoc  with  the  business  world.  Millions  are  left  with¬ 
out  a  penny  or  a  method  to  go  forward.  But,  ten 
thousand  times  worse,  it  has  left  the  vulgar  “profiteer,” 
who  trafficked  in  the  most  sacred  things  of  human  life 
and  love.  He  lives  on,  a  curse  to  everything  he  touches, 
more  contaminating  to  the  economic  world  than  a  leper 
Is  to  the  physical.  The  starving  in  the  war-ridden  areas 
are  worthy  of  pity,  but  a  war  profiteer  who  gained  gold 
out  of  those  scenes  and  kept  it  for  his  own  sensual  life 
is  an  object  of  pity  and  contempt  combined. 

The  economic  order  is  as  vital  as  breath  to  good 
human  existence.  The  war  has  wrecked  it  for  many 
years  yet  to  be. 

j.  War  Is  an  Enemy  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 

If  I  should  be  asked  to  give  one  single  answer  to 
cover  what  seems  to  be  the  most  serious  result  of  the 
Great  War,  I  would  not  speak  of  the  deaths  in  actual 
battle,  terrible  as  they  were ;  reference  would  not  be  di¬ 
rected  to  the  financial  losses,  although  the  wiping  out 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty  billion  dollars  of  actual 
values,  to  say  nothing  of  the  indirect  losses,  has  left  the 
world  a  legacy  of  poverty  and  left  nations  bankrupt, 
some  of  whom  will  never  rise  again.  Neither  would 
attention  be  centered  upon  an  attempt  to  appraise  the 
horrors  of  disease,  plague,  pestilence,  and  disturbed 
mental  conditions  throughout  the  world,  inexplicably 
terrible  as  they  are.  If  only  one  word  was  permitted 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  15 

in  an  appraisement  of  the  whole  result,  it  would  be 
HATE. 

No  one  intelligent  about  the  facts  can  doubt  that 
generation  after  generation  will  have  to  pass  before 
these  hitherto  unequaled  passions  of  revenge,  jealousy, 
and  hate  are  quieted.  The  economic  world  will  suffer 
fearfully  from  this  fact  because  sound,  normal  commer¬ 
cial  enterprises  do  not  prosper  in  the  world  amid  the 
scenes  of  hate  which  now  exist.  Even  the  physical 
problems,  as  represented  by  disease,  will  remain  un¬ 
solved  so  long  as  this  lack  of  friendship  exists,  but  be¬ 
yond  all  else  this  spirit  is  so  much  opposed  to  the  very 
fundamental  character  of  God  and  of  the  life  He  meant 
people  to  live  that  it  has  been  a  terrible  blow  to  the  hopes 
of  those  who  for  centuries  have  been  offering  the 
prayer  which  Jesus  Christ  gave  to  His  followers: 
“Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it 
is  in  Heaven.” 

I  am  sure  I  met  with  a  thousand  different  kinds  of 
so-called  “brotherhood”  organizations  on  a  limited  scale. 
Perhaps  many  of  them  were  exactly  the  opposite  of 
what  real  brotherhoods  ought  to  be,  and  were  just 
selfish  organizations  to  take  care  of  their  own  inner 
group,  but  even  granting  this  allowance,  there  is  a 
hunger  for  brotherhood  which  is  world-wide,  and  the 
“Kingdom  on  Earth”  can  never  be  what  it  ought  to  be 
until  this  universal  brotherhood  in  true  spirit  has  ap¬ 
peared.  That  means  a  day  when  all  the  good  men  of 
the  world  will  be  bound  together  to  promote  all  the 
good  of  the  world,  regardless  of  race,  class,  caste,  or 
place  of  birth.  Brotherhood  is  a  sham  and  an  empty 
dream  except  to  those  who  see  the  day  coming  when  no 
man  will  think  himself  superior  to  others  because  of 


16  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


his  family  traditions,  his  education,  or  the  color  of  his 
skin.  But  of  all  the  forces  working  against  this  hope 
no  other  is  so  overpowering  as  the  injection  of  war  for 
a  season.  Observing  only  continental  Europe,  the  scene 
of  the  last  great  conflict,  and  its  condition  in  this  re¬ 
spect,  it  is  quite  enough  to  set  every  man’s  heart  against 
the  whole  principle  of  war,  if  he  professes  to  believe 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

I  found  Greece  not  only  hating  Turkey  with  a  furi¬ 
ous  passion,  but  also  with  a  deep  enmity  against  every 
one  of  her  national  neighbors.  I  found  Bulgaria 
seething  with  heated  passion  against  every  border  coun¬ 
try.  Jugo-Slavia  is  harboring  memories  of  the  fright¬ 
fulness  of  war  with  its  terrible  havoc,  but  an  even  more 
furious  ill  feeling  toward  Italy.  In  Hungary  there  was 
found  a  bitterness,  the  depths  of  which  can  be  under¬ 
stood  only  by  those  who  have  measured  the  capacity  of 
righteous  hate  when  aroused  to  its  depths.  There  is  no 
friendly  border  anywhere  for  Hungary  as  at  present 
constituted.  The  same  furious  wrath  was  revealed  in 
Austria  as  she  lies  broken,  hopeless,  and  bleeding  yet 
from  a  thousand  wounds.  Then  contact  with  France 
and  Germany  brings  back  again  all  the  terror  of  human 
hate  known  in  1914—1918,  plus  four  years  of  constant 
outrageous  incidents.  These  are  but  a  few  illustrations 
drawn  from  continental  Europe  which  are  reflected  in 
many  forms  throughout  the  whole  Orient. 

The  purpose  is  not  to  condemn  or  indict  beyond  rea¬ 
son  any  of  the  people  of  any  of  these  countries.  Hu¬ 
man  nature  is  sensitive.  It  is  quick  to  feel  a  wrong  and 
there  seem  to  have  been  a  million  causes  arousing  this 
feeling.  There  is  no  value  in  just  merely  condemning 
human  life  and  human  people  and  human  processes. 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  17 

Condemnation  ought  to  be  centered  upon  the  cause,  the 
method,  not  the  people.  War  is  not  only  a  curse  to 
human  existence,  but  it  is  a  deadly  enemy  of  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  God  in  the  world. 

There  is  just  one  man  met  occasionally  in  many  dif¬ 
ferent  parts  of  the  world  for  whom  the  writer  has  but 
little  respect.  Reference  is  not  directed  here  to  mili¬ 
tarists  who,  perhaps,  sincerely  believe  that  war  is  an 
essential  factor  in  the  world  full  of  ideas  about  what 
ought  to  be,  but  rather  to  a  certain  type  of  so-called 
religionists  who  search  the  Bible  and,  by  a  kind  of  men¬ 
tality  and  standard  of  morality  which  ought  to  be  out¬ 
lawed,  convince  themselves  and  try  to  convince  others 
that  somehow  God  has  to  do  with  war.  Not  long  since 
it  was  my  sad  experience  on  a  Sunday  morning  to  come 
in  contact  with  this  sort  of  an  interpretation.  I  went 
in  through  a  great  stone  arch  at  the  right  hand  of 
which  was  a  bold  sign,  “Christian  Church,”  and  under¬ 
neath  the  name  of  a  widely  known  preacher.  I  lis¬ 
tened  to  hymns  sung  which  I  do  not  believe  the  founder 
of  Christianity  could  have  listened  to  quietly  Himself. 
They  had  to  do  with  a  pious  conception  of  the  place 
God’s  pets  were  expected  to  have  in  Heaven.  I  listened 
to  a  prayer  expressing  sentiments,  for  making  a  per¬ 
manent  record  of  which  I  do  not  believe  the  recording 
angels  could  have  had  any  method.  It  was  more  like  a 
recitation  setting  forth  the  greatness  of  the  man  who 
delivered  it,  with  a  particular  desire  to  call  God’s  at¬ 
tention  to  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  a  few  left  in  the 
world  who  had  not  forgotten  the  Faith.  The  sermon, 
which  lasted  one  hour  and  a  half,  was  upon  “the  wheels 
within  wheels”  of  Ezekiel’s  prophecy,  and  near  the 
close,  with  a  burst  of  terrific  passion,  the  preacher  de- 


18  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


dared  that  the  last  great  war  was  one  of  the  wheels  of 
this  so-called  prophecy,  and  assured  the  people  that 
more  wars  of  a  worse  kind  were  coming,  because  all 
the  horrors  which  he  thought  he  could  discover  in  the 
Scripture  referred  to  were  not  yet  realized  and  God 
would  find  it  necessary  to  bring  more  cataclysms  of 
that  kind,  that  this  picture  might  be  completed.  He 
seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  expert  mechanic,  or  specially 
assigned  oiler,  of  the  intricate  mechanisms  of  Ezekiel’s 
prophecy,  and  manifested  a  peculiar  quality  of  ecstasy 
as  he  pondered  over  these  fearful  instances  and  as¬ 
signed  them  to  a  part  of  the  plan  of  God. 

Thinking  men  and  women  throughout  all  the  world 
will  say  that  if  this  is  religion,  let  us  have  no  religion. 
Thinking  men  and  women  will  say  that  if  this  is  the 
religion  of  Jehovah  God,  which  found  its  supreme  ex¬ 
pression  in  Jesus  Christ  as  its  founder,  then  we  had 
better  by  far  turn  to  Buddhism,  or  Hinduism,  for  nei¬ 
ther  of  these,  weak  and  impotent  as  they  are,  has  ever 
inculcated  doctrines  of  that  kind. 

The  preacher  referred  to  did  not  seem  to  relish  the 
fact  that  the  writer  suggested  to  him  at  the  close  of 
the  day  that  the  sermon  would  have  been  splendid  if 
it  had  been  preached  in  a  Mohammedan  mosque. 

Humanity  is  longing  for  a  world-wide  era  of  love, 
friendship,  and  brotherhood — a  time  when  every  man 
shall  seek  the  good  of  his  brother-man  and  no  one  man 
shall  look  upon  the  things  that  belong  to  him  alone. 
When  that  day  comes  it  will  be  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
but  every  time  war  breaks  out  it  sets  that  principle  back 
by  hundreds  of  years.  Therefore,  every  man  who  be¬ 
lieves  in,  and  every  woman  who  hopes  for,  goodness 
and  love  in  the  world,  as  the  true  Kingdom  of  God, 


IS  MODERN  CIVILIZATION  DOOMED?  19 

ought  to  be  organized  to  the  highest  degree  to  repress 
armed  force  as  the  process  by  which  diplomats,  rulers, 
presidents,  and  royalty  shall  adjust  their  differences 
when  they  arise.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  peace  among 
men.  The  kingdom  of  darkness  and  evil  is  war. 


CHAPTER  III 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  AMERICA 
The  Land  of  Good  Will 

NO  greater  privilege  could  possibly  have  been 
given  to  any  living  man  than  to  encircle  the 
globe  in  the  years  of  1921  and  1922  as  a  mes¬ 
senger  of  the  Christian  forces  of  America  in  behalf  of 
world  peace  and  brotherhood,  and,  quite  beyond  the 
hope  of  any  contribution  made  directly  to  the  cause, 
to  be  granted  the  opportunity  of  knowing  at  firsthand 
what  the  real  sentiment  is  in  nineteen  nations  upon  this 
topic. 

The  growing  horrors  of  the  World  War  of  1914- 
1918,  with  its  train  of  hate,  disease,  pestilence,  famine, 
poverty,  jealousy,  racial  strife,  national  bankruptcy  to 
much  of  Europe,  and  the  same  inevitable  for  all  the 
great  powers  unless  some  relief  is  found,  together  with 
the  assembling  of  the  Conference  on  Limitation  of 
Armaments  in  Washington,  have  combined  to  make 
this  the  one  great  consuming  topic  of  newspaper, 
magazine,  lecture  and  pulpit  platform,  conference, 
convention,  and  personal  discussion.  The  whole  world 
seems  to  have  suddenly  centered  its  mind  upon  this  sub¬ 
ject  with  a  determination  to  know  the  cause  of  this 
war  disease  and  to  find  a  remedy  before  the  slumber- 

20 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  AMERICA 


21 


in g  fires  break  out  anew  to  complete  the  havoc  so  nearly 
final  in  the  recent  years. 

I  started  with  a  good  many  misgivings  about  the 
criticisms  I  would  encounter,  particularly  in  the  Far 
East.  I  had  only  recently  spent  three  months  in  Europe 
and  all  the  while  in  the  presence  of  a  deep  suspicion  that 
my  own  country  was  not  playing  fair  with  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and  was  quite  willing  to  build  a  secure  fence 
around  herself  and  let  other  nations  suffer  alone  the 
penalties  of  a  conflict  in  which  we  had  been  a  partici¬ 
pant.  I  remembered  that  I  did  not  find  one  spot  on  the 
British  Isles  or  in  France,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  or 
Germany,  where  this  did  not  seem  to  be  the  idea  held 
of  America.  The  fact  that  we  did  not  go  into  the 
League  of  Nations  was  being  interpreted  as  suggesting 
selfishness,  greed,  indifference,  and  a  lack  of  genuine 
interest  in  world  peace.  I  was  therefore  very  glad  that 
the  route  of  travel  was  to  take  me  through  the  heart 
of  my  own  country  first,  that  I  might  gain  for  myself 
those  facts  which  would  give  confidence  in  declaring 
that  true  America  was  not  any  of  those  baser,  meaner 
things  which  many  foreigners  fear. 

I  started  armed  with  credentials  from  the  two  most 
representative  church  organizations,  the  Federal  Coun¬ 
cil  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  representing 
thirty-one  denominations,  and  the  World  Alliance  of 
Churches  for  International  Friendship;  also  comment 
dations  from  the  great  interdenominational  societies, 
such  as  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  the 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Association,  the  Young 
People’s  Societies,  and  the  World’s  Sunday  School 
Association,  so  that  I  had  no  doubt  of  the  Christian 
sentiment  in  American  life.  I  had  also  a  cordial  letter 


22  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


from  President  Harding  and  a  similar  one  from  Sec¬ 
retary  of  State  Hughes  highly  endorsing  the  purpose 
of  the  tour,  and  in  addition,  upon  almost  my  last  day 
before  starting  west,  the  President  had  received  me 
with  one  hundred  representatives  of  these  organiza¬ 
tions  and  had  spoken  with  deep  feeling  upon  the  im¬ 
portance  of  world  peace  and  said  he  was  “preaching  the 
gospel  of  understanding  in  the  belief  that  it  would  even¬ 
tually  produce  a  tranquil  world.”  All  of  these  gave 
first  proof  that  at  heart  America  was  true  to  the  doc¬ 
trine  I  was  to  try  to  carry  around  the  world.  But  I 
purposed  to  supplement  this  by  every  possible  method 
as  I  traveled  west  to  San  Francisco. 

First,  I  talked  upon  the  subject  with  every  kind  of 
man  I  could  meet,  without  revealing  my  own  mission — 
a  Pullman  car  conductor  and  the  porter,  a  cab  driver,  a 
street  car  motorman,  a  bell  boy  in  a  hotel,  a  policeman, 
an  ex-oversea  soldier,  an  army  officer,  a  hotel  manager 
and  a  lot  more.  Every  one  of  them  without  a  shadow 
of  reservation  advocated  some  way  of  getting  along 
without  going  to  war  every  few  years.  A  railroad  man 
felt  sure  there  would  never  be  another  war  if  they 
would  let  railroad  employees  vote  on  the  question  and 
accept  their  verdict.  The  ex-oversea  soldier  was  furi¬ 
ous  at  what  he  believed  was  the  tendency  of  some  poli¬ 
ticians  to  “play  with  the  fire”  of  another  war.  He  had 
been  a  delegate  to  the  American  Legion  Convention  at 
Kansas  City  and  said,  “That  whole  crowd  hate  war 
and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  any  more  for  any¬ 
body  for  anything.” 

Second,  I  spoke  in  Chicago  in  two  great  Sunday 
afternoon  and  evening  clubs — one  in  Evanston,  Illinois, 
at  the  center  of  Northwestern  University;  one  in  Wil- 


“The  World  Alliance  of  Churches  for  International  Friendship,”  the  “Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,”  and  the  Allied  Christian  Organizations. 

Received  by  President  Warren  G.  Harding,  at  the  White  House,  October  30,  1921. 

The  President  expressed  to  the  Committee  his  appreciation  of  the  purposes  of  the  Tour  and 
of  the  effort  of  these  societies  in  behalf  of  World  Peace. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  AMERICA 


23 


mette,  a  typical  high-grade  suburban  part  of  Chicago. 
At  both  places  the  audiences  were  tremendous  in  their 
approval  of  the  statement  that  war  was  a  crime  against 
humanity  and  ought  to  be  abolished  root  and  branch 
from  the  earth.  There  was  no  room  for  doubt  about 
the  sentiment  here. 

Third,  I  spent  a  day  at  the  State  Agricultural  Col¬ 
lege  at  Ames,  Iowa,  where  I  spoke  before  two  thou¬ 
sand  in  convocation  and  I  do  not  believe  they  would 
have  celebrated  winning  a  football  game  any  more 
enthusiastically  than  they  received  the  proposal  to 
abolish  war.  I  found  seventy  volunteer  groups  meet¬ 
ing  in  different  places  on  that  campus  studying  the 
principles  of  disarmament  and  peace.  I  met  two  hun¬ 
dred  and  ten  members  of  the  faculty  at  lunch ;  they  were 
unanimous  upon  the  subject.  The  college  and  uni¬ 
versity  students  whose  minds  are  open  to  the  new 
social  questions  have  no  compromise  to  make  with  war. 

Fourth,  I  spent  a  Sunday  at  Riverside,  California, 
at  the  “Mission  Inn”  and  spoke  before  a  great  audience, 
which  I  was  told  was  typical  of  California.  I  was  espe¬ 
cially  anxious  to  know  how  much  they  would  be  influ¬ 
enced  by  the  “yellow  peril”  talk.  Their  response  was 
exactly  the  same  as  that  in  New  York,  Illinois,  and 
Iowa.  The  “yellow  peril”  is  not  an  impossible  adjust¬ 
ment  with  Japan,  but  in  “yellow  journals”  and  “yellow 
politicians.”  So  far  as  California  is  concerned,  they 
want  no  war  with  anybody. 

Fifth,  while  en  route  the  news  was  flashed  over  the 
wires  of  President  Harding’s  two  speeches — one  at 
Arlington,  at  the  burial  of  the  Unknown  Soldier  on 
Armistice  Day,  and  the  other  at  the  opening  of  the 
Conference  in  Washington,  November  12 — also  of 


24  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Secretary  Hughes’s  proposals  for  naval  reductions. 
The  effect  was  tremendous,  not  the  noise  of  November 
ii,  1918,  but  a  deeper,  grander  kind  of  satisfaction.  I 
think  it  was  the  first  man  I  spoke  to  after  reading  the 
news  who  said,  “Well,  maybe  it  isn’t  such  a  bad  old 
world  after  all.”  New  hope  for  a  decent  human  life 
seemed  to  possess  everybody.  I  was  glad  for  this  token 
upon  my  own  country’s  soil  before  contact  with  na¬ 
tions  far  away. 

Sixth,  I  met  at  Riverside  the  noble  Dr.  David  Starr 
Jordan.  A  world  tour  upon  the  problems  of  world 
peace  would  be  incomplete,  it  seems  to  me,  if  Dr.  Jor¬ 
dan  were  not  included  somewhere.  For  a  quarter  of  a 
century  he  has  been  using  all  his  powers  to  bring  the 
nations  to  realize  the  folly  of  war.  His  face  flamed 
with  delight  as  he  referred  to  the  addresses  by  Presi¬ 
dent  Harding  and  Secretary  Hughes.  He  said :  “For 
the  first  time  in  all  my  life  I  seem  to  be  with  the  ma¬ 
jority  on  this  subject  of  world  peace;  we  have  won  the 
first  victory.” 

Seventh,  I  had  the  opportunity  of  real  knowledge  of 
the  feeling  of  the  people  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  A 
big  banner  I  met  crossing  the  States  assured  me  I  would 
find  a  decided  sentiment  among  the  representatives  of 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  farther  west,  that  the  sooner  we 
had  a  war  with  Japan  and  got  her  out  of  the  way  the 
better  it  would  be  for  everybody.  But  instead  of  any 
such  sentiment  in  Honolulu,  I  met  here  again  the  same 
determined  purpose  to  eliminate  war  from  the  program 
of  international  affairs.  These  western  American  folks 
know  that  another  great  war  will  surely  sweep  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  that  these  islands  would  become  a 
part  of  the  battle  ground  and  part  of  the  territory 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  AMERICA 


25 


fought  for.  As  Christians  they  do  not  believe  in  war, 
and  as  sensible  people  they  realize  its  consequences  to 
their  own  life.  They  are  solidly  against  war. 

Eighth,  I  saw  anew  the  benign  influence  of  prohibi¬ 
tion.  I  believe  it  is  a  vain  dream  to  hope  for  world 
peace  so  long  as  nations  harbor  great  sins  against 
human  welfare.  There  will  be  no  settled  universal 
peace  so  long  as  the  powerful  exploit  the  weak  in  the 
economic  affairs  of  life’s  struggle.  There  will  be  no 
settled  universal  peace  so  long  as  whisky  is  sold  as  a 
beverage  to  degrade  individual  life  and  debauch  public 
morals.  The  passing  of  the  American  open  saloon  is 
probably  the  finest  call  to  the  possibility  of  idealism  in 
human  affairs  of  any  one  word  which  can  be  spoken. 
This  element  reached  its  highest  testimony  in  a  six 
days’  ocean  voyage  from  San  Francisco  to  Honolulu 
on  a  ship  where  no  intoxicating  liquors  were  sold.  It 
was  like  a  dream  as.  compared  with  the  ships  where  the 
poison  flows  freely.  As  a  part  of  America’s  message 
to  the  world  upon  friendship  and  brotherhood,  this  is 
an  item  of  prime  significance. 

I  was  glad  to  start  on  to  the  distant  parts  of  the 
world  confirmed  in  the  confidence  that  the  United 
States  is  true  in  her  heart  toward  the  best  good  of  all 
the  people  of  the  earth;  that  she  harbors  no  secret 
schemes  to  get  the  upper  hand  of  anybody  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  selfish  gain ;  that  she  loves  peace  and  is  willing 
to  sacrifice  every  honorable  thing  that  good  will  and 
brotherhood  may  supplant  suspicion  and  hatred.  I  did 
not  forget  that  among  her  population  there  are  some 
profiteers  who  would  welcome  even  war  if  they  could 
get  more  dollars  for  their  own  sensual  purposes,  or  the 
pitiful  truth  that  the  country  still  has  to  endure  cheap 


26  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


politicians  who  seek  to  entrench  themselves  by  insult¬ 
ing  other  nations  and  by  every  method  are  trying  to 
produce  international  discord  and  suspicion.  Neither 
did  I  forget  that  worst  and  most  dangerous  group  of 
all,  the  lurid  yellow  journalist  who  lives  only  to  incite 
class  and  racial  hatred,  who  sees  the  Japanese  army 
marching  by  millions  across  Texas  via  Washington  to 
capture  Wall  Street  and  dreams  of  Great  Britain  min¬ 
ing  New  York  harbor  clear  up  to  the  Bronx.  Granting 
all  of  these  their  limited  sphere  of  influence,  I  went  my 
way  with  thanksgiving  to  God  for  America  and  with 
boldness  to  convey  to  all  of  whatever  nation,  color,  race, 
kind,  or  condition,  who  share  the  hope  of  a  world  rid 
of  armed  force  as  an  international  instrument  for  set¬ 
tling  differences,  the  certain  unbounded  cooperation  of 
my  country  toward  this  supreme  ideal. 

America's  heart  is  right. 


CHAPTER  IV 


HONOLULU 

“The  American  Laboratory” 

AN  unusual  privilege  came  in  the  opportunity  of  a 
fifth  visit  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  also  in 
an  unexpected  delay  in  sailing,  which  gave  time 
for  some  unhurried  contact  with  the  real  situation.  I 
was  happily  surprised  in  the  discovery  of  a  very  vital 
link  there  in  the  problems  of  American  relationship 
with  the  Orient.  Feeling  rather  familiar  with  Hono¬ 
lulu  and  the  people  there,  it  had  not  occurred  to  me  that 
anything  of  new  significance  would  attach  to  this  stop 
as  bearing  directly  upon  the  main  purpose  of  the  tour. 
I  shared  the  average  tourist’s  appreciation  of  this  won¬ 
derful  spot,  famous  for  tropical  foliage,  glorious  in 
mountain  scenery,  fascinating  in  bathing  beaches,  al¬ 
most  unequaled  in  climate,  rich  in  sugar  and  pineapple 
plantations  and  highly  endowed  in  noble  people,  but  I 
was  to  find  a  fact  more  valuable  to  the  American  fu¬ 
ture  than  all  of  these  combined  except  the  last.  With¬ 
out  human  intention  or  plan  I  found  a  most  remark¬ 
able  piece  of  experimental  laboratory  work  being  car¬ 
ried  out  there  upon  the  vexed  questions  of  racial  and 
international  human  relationships,  the  test  being  the 
more  valuable  because  those  engaged  in  it  are  not  the¬ 
orists  or  expert  students,  but  are  just  common  people 

27 


28  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


forced  to  meet  and  solve  these  questions  for  practical 
everyday  living  results.  As  is  often  the  case,  they  are 
discovering  principles  which  may  become  of  inestim¬ 
able  value  to  future  generations,  not  only  of  Americans 
but  the  whole  Pacific  Ocean  peoples. 

The  first  fact  to  be  noted  is  that  here,  as  in  no  other 
spot  in  the  world,  the  races  of  the  Occident  and  the 
Orient  are  meeting,  not  as  passers-by,  but  as  fellow 
citizens  of  a  permanent  life,  where  all  must  work  and 
live  together.  There  is  no  escape  for,*  whether  they  will 
or  no,  here  they  are  and  must  either  find  a  basis  of 
cooperative,  friendly  working  together  or  accept  the 
final  crisis  of  force  and  the  survival  of  the  strongest. 

In  the  Territory  they  have  275,000  population,  of 
whom  114,000  are  Japanese,  37,000  white  Americans, 
25,000  Portuguese,  23,000  Filipinos,  22,000  Chinese, 
21,000  native  Hawaiians,  7,000  Koreans,  5,000  Porto 
Ricans,  and  the  rest  scattered  from  every  Asiatic  spot 
known.  The  East  Side  of  New  York  City  may  be  a 
melting  pot  for  Europeans,  but  it  never  had  such 
heated  elements  in  it  at  any  one  time  as  this  popula¬ 
tion  represents  in  the  mid-Pacific,  the  most  westerly 
of  all  the  immediate  American  territories. 

There  isn’t  a  tint  of  color  or  an  accent  of  tongue 
which  is  anywhere  found  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  but  that  in  some  form  is  represented  here  under 
the  American  Government.  I  had  the  privilege  of  at¬ 
tending  flag  drill  one  morning  at  the  Kauilani  public 
school,  seventeen  hundred  students  enrolled,  forty  dif¬ 
ferent  nationalities  among  them.  During  the  exer¬ 
cises  fourteen  different  groups,  representing  as  many 
nations,  marched  out  under  the  great  waving  Stars  and 
Stripes  and  each  in  turn,  after  saluting,  repeated  a  poem 


HONOLULU 


29 


or  verse  of  their  own  selection,  upon  their  love  for  the 
flag,  and  then  the  whole  school  sang  “The  Star 
Spangled  Banner”  together.  There  is  not  another  spot 
on  earth  where  at  any  one  time  so  many  varied  tongues 
from  faces  of  so  many  hues  sing  the  national  hymn 
of  a  country.  All  of  these  children  were  born  under 
the  American  flag  and  are  to  remain  Americans  citi¬ 
zens  for  life.  Mrs.  Fraser,  the  principal,  and  others  of 
the  faculty  expressed  positive  certainty  that  their  loy¬ 
alty  to  the  country  was  genuine. 

I  hurried  from  this  school  to  an  international  lun¬ 
cheon  which  was  given  in  the  Oriental  branch  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  About  a  hundred  picked  men  were  pres¬ 
ent,  selected  from  the  American,  Japanese,  Chinese, 
Korean,  Filipino,  Portuguese,  and  Flawaiian  groups.  I 
was  called  upon  to  speak  upon  the  importance  of  friend¬ 
ship  among  nations  and  peace  as  a  permanent  policy 
throughout  the  world.  Then  followed  responses  from 
one  of  each  of  the  types  present.  The  most  impressive 
of  all  these  addresses  was  by  the  Lion.  C.  Yada,  Consul 
General  of  Japan.  He  pleaded  for  good  will  and 
brotherhood  in  a  manner  to  leave  no  doubt  but  that 
he  was  a  part  of  the  society  springing  up  everywhere 
to  promote  permanent  concord  in  the  world.  Among 
the  guests  were  the  Hon.  Wallace  R.  Farrington,  the 
present  Governor;  Judge  Frear,  an  ex-Governor;  and 
the  great  Judge  Sanford  B.  Dole,  the  first  Governor, 
intimate  friends  themselves  and  all  ardent  apostles  of 
the  doctrine  of  friendship  and  brotherly  relations 
among  all  these  people. 

I  believe  if  all  the  Presidents,  Premiers,  Secretaries 
of  Foreign  Affairs  and  members  of  Parliaments  and 
Congress  could  have  been  in  that  room  and  could  have 


30  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

felt  its  spirit  they  would  have  believed  anew  that  war 
can  be  abolished  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Here  are 
these  mixed  nations,  crossed  and  recrossed,  different  in 
traditions  of  society,  commerce,  and  religion,  but  they 
are  finding  a  way  to  live  in  harmony,  and  their  experi¬ 
ence  may  be  worth  billions  in  money  and  millions  in 
lives  yet  to  be  saved,  in  armed  conflicts  averted  in  the 
future  by  reason  of  this  splendid  achievement  in  good 
will. 

America  will  do  well  to  be  generous  with  these  ear¬ 
nest  people  and  give  them  every  facility  to  work  out  suc¬ 
cessfully  this  problem  to  which  they  have  set  them¬ 
selves.  This  is  a  good  spot  for  this  laboratory,  not  only 
because  here  the  East  is  literally  getting  acquainted  with 
the  West,  but  also  in  view  of  the  fact  that  here  is  where 
nearly  everybody  going  east  or  going  west  “changes 
cars.”  I  believe  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  a  rule 
could  be  established  that  every  American  on  his  first 
trip  to  the  Orient  would  be  required  to  stop  a  month  in 
Honolulu  and  be  taken  into  the  heart  of  what  is  going 
on  there.  It  would  calm  down  his  conceit  (perhaps?). 
It  would  soften  his  voice  so  accustomed  to  blow  and 
brag.  It  would  teach  him  that  there  is  a  wisdom  in  the 
East  that  he  can  respect.  He  would  find  a  splendid 
illustration  of  business  energy;  great  business  blocks, 
beautiful  homes,  every  modern  principle  of  the  proper 
care  of  a  city,  and  a  real  American  spirit.  Hawaiians 
exported  in  1920  $145,000,000  worth  of  products, 
$116,000,000  of  it  being  sugar.  They  have  $52,788,- 
000  in  bank  deposits.  They  have  capacity  to  double 
and  treble  these  figures.  I  happened  to  be  there  when 
the  managers  of  the  great  sugar  plantations  from  all 
the  islands  were  holding  their  annual  convention,  and 


FOURTEEN  NATIONALITIES  REPRESENTED 


HONOLULU 


3i 


met  a  good  many  of  them  personally.  They  repre¬ 
sented  the  financial  spinal  column  of  the  country,  and 
would  grace  any  assembly  of  business  men  of  any  type 
of  enterprise  anywhere  in  the  world.  Most  of  them 
seemed  to  be  Scotchmen,  and  I  therefore  knew  the 
sugar  industry  was  to  be  a  permanent  success  regard¬ 
less  of  wind,  weather  or  politics.  He  would  also  find 
one  of  the  most  advanced  pieces  of  Christian  and  phil¬ 
anthropic  work  being  carried  on  anywhere  in  the  world. 
I  am  not  able  to  give  the  actual  figures,  but  I  believe 
there  is  more  money  invested  in  enterprises  of  this  kind 
in  Honolulu,  according  to  the  population,  than  in  any 
other  city  in  the  United  States.  While  I  was  there  they 
put  on  their  Annual  Community  Chest  drive — $270,000 
the  goal.  They  went  over  the  top  in  three  days. 
Churches,  schools,  hospitals,  settlement  houses,  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Associations,  Young  Women’s  Chris¬ 
tian  Associations — four  buildings  for  the  two  latter 
representing  over  a  half  million  dollars,  all  paid  for. 

The  American  ought  to  see  and  feel  this  fused  life 
before  he  rushes,  raw,  into  the  Far  East.  The  benefits 
would  be  equally  profitable  for  the  Oriental  going  east 
to  make  a  similar  stop.  Here,  in  a  life  which  is  not 
soft,  not  colorless,  God  has  in  a  wonderful  way  set 
these  people  at  this  place  where  the  tension  is  so  se¬ 
vere,  to  live  their  lives  true,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
demonstrate  that  such  a  mixture  can  live  in  harmony 
in  this  limited  sphere,  and  therefore  such  a  hope  is  not 
impossible,  by  the  same  rule  of  conference,  forbear¬ 
ance,  and  unselfishness,  upon  a  world-wide  scale.  The 
most  impressive  thing  in  it  all  seems  to  be  the  fact  that 
nobody  started  out  to  do  a  scientific  thing  based  upon 
superior  knowledge  of  biology,  racial  traditions  or 


32  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

“post-war  reconstruction.”  No  great  “congress”  has 
been  held,  no  “commissions”  appointed  to  make  a  “long, 
exhaustive,  intensive  study”  of  the  situation. 

Common  sense,  based  upon  the  fruits  of  that  great 
Christianity  planted  by  those  early  foreign  missionaries 
who  came  there  when  the  wild  men  ruled  in  lust  and 
passion,  has  led  them  to  adopt  a  few  simple  principles : 

First,  get  sympathetically  acquainted  with  each  other. 
Learn  the  other  fellow’s  point  of  view. 

Second,  practice  the  square  deal  doctrine.  Give  every 
fellow  a  fair  chance  for  his  life. 

Third,  have  confidence  in  folks,  believe  the  other 
fellow  means  what  he  says  until  the  evidence  proves  to 
the  contrary. 

Fourth,  have  patience.  Don’t  insist  upon  setting 
your  own  pace  all  the  time;  wait  for  the  fellow  who 
seems  to  be  slow. 

Fifth,  magnify  the  Christian  religion  as  the  ultimate 
hope  of  permanence  in  friendly  relations. 

On  this  last  point  I  have  never  visited  any  place, 
East,  West,  Near  East  or  Far  East,  where  the  funda¬ 
mental  people  seemed  to  believe  this  more  funda¬ 
mentally  than  they  do  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

While  the  nations  struggle  for  adjustments  and  the 
people  suffer  the  penalties  of  useless  war,  I  thank  God 
for  this  illustration  being  so  successfully  worked  out  of 
good  will,  even  among  almost  impossible  races. 

Since  writing  the  earlier  part  of  this  article  I  have 
talked  with  another  American  of  his  impression  of  this 
same  spot.  I  am  afraid  he  would  not  draw  the  same 
conclusions.  He  said  he  had  it  upon  “reliable  informa¬ 
tion”  that  the  Japanese  have  secretly  stored  away  ship¬ 
loads  of  rifles  and  thousands  of  rounds  of  ammunition 


HONOLULU 


33 


and  are  ready  at  a  signal  from  Tokyo  to  assassinate 
Governor  Farrington,  slaughter  the  white  people,  and 
annex  the  island  to  Japan.  He  says  the  police  of  Hono¬ 
lulu  are  sold  out  to  the  prostitutes,  and  that  “half  the 
city  is  given  over  to  vice.”  He  says  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  people  say,  “to  hell  with  Washington  and  pro¬ 
hibition,”  and  goes  on  to  say  there  are  “twice  as  many 
saloons  in  Honolulu  as  there  were  five  years  ago.” 
Isn't  it  funny  what  different  people  find  out  in  the  same 
spot? 

But,  lest  the  writer  may  seem  to  have  been  limited  to 
one  side  of  the  question  of  life  in  Hawaii,  it  may  be 
well  to  add  that  they  have  still  severe  strains  in  rela¬ 
tionships,  they  have  had  some  bad  strikes,  they  may 
have  some  more.  They  have  submerged  vice  to  con¬ 
tend  with  (none  openly).  They  have  violations  of  the 
Eighteenth  Amendment.  Not  one  open  saloon.  Surely 
they  have  struggles  with  every  kind  of  carnality.  But 
the  good  is  proving  more  potent  than  the  bad. 


CHAPTER  V 


< 


JAPAN 

Part  One:  A  Flashlight  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom 

OF  all  the  nations  to  be  visited,  with  one  excep¬ 
tion,  I  was  more  in  doubt  about  what  my 
reception  would  be  and  what  I  would  really  find 
in  Japan  than  in  any  other  country.  I  was  full  of 
doubts  and  prepared  to  be  confirmed  in  general  distrust 
of  everything  Japanese.  To  understand  and  appreciate 
fully  what  follows  it  seems  necessary  to  say  that  I  was 
exceedingly  critical  of  the  Japanese,  so  far  as  the  inter¬ 
national  friendship  topic  was  involved.  I  took,  there¬ 
fore,  unusual  care  to  talk  with  Europeans  and  Ameri¬ 
cans  en  route,  and  found  certainly  ninety  per  cent  of 
them  apparently  full  of  the  idea  that  Japan  was  clearly 
militaristic,  deliberately  planning  for  war  with  some¬ 
body,  and  that  that  somebody  was  probably  the  United 
States.  This  sentiment  seemed  to  be  absolutely  fixed 
in  the  minds  of  the  travelers,  and  later  after  leaving 
Japan  and  going  on  farther  into  the  East  I  found  ex¬ 
actly  the  same  sentiment.  Europeans,  Americans,  and 
neighboring  Orientals  all  seemed  of  one  accord  in  utter 
lack  of  confidence  in  the  Japanese,  no  matter  what  they 
might  profess. 

Personally,  I  had  been  prejudiced  by  the  attitude  of 
Japan  toward  China  and  the  severity  of  methods  used 

34 


JAPAN  35 

in  Korea,  and  had  also  by  some  experiences  been  led  to 
wonder  whether  the  average  sincerity  of  the  average 
Japanese  was  equal  to  that  found  in  other  people.  In 
fact,  I  arrived  in  the  land  of  the  sunrise  flag  and  glori¬ 
ous  Fujiyama  suspicious  and  determined  not  to  be 
fooled,  fixed  in  purpose  not  to  accept  any  impressions 
till  the  evidence  was  enough  to  leave  no  room  for  rea¬ 
sonable  doubt.  In  other  words,  I  started  as  rather  a 
biased  witness  and  conducted  my  investigation  with  the 
expectation  of  having  my  suspicions  confirmed. 

For  the  information  I  have,  whatever  its  value,  I  am 
indebted  to  many  people — pastors,  college  presidents, 
missionaries,  public  officials,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C. 
A.  secretaries,  bankers,  lawyers,  manufacturers,  stu¬ 
dents,  merchants,  and  editors,  as  well  as  to  meetings 
and  conferences  I  conducted  myself. 

No  sudden  superior  knowledge  is  now  claimed  that 
warrants  saying  all  of  those  who  gave  the  earlier  im¬ 
pressions  were  wrong.  Maybe  they  are  right,  and 
Japan  may  be  guilty  of  every  sin  of  which  she  is  ac¬ 
cused.  I  do  not  pretend  to  answer  these  charges. 
There  may  have  been  cause  for  everything  said.  I  was 
not  on  an  investigation  of  political  situations,  and  in¬ 
deed  avoided  questions  of  that  character,  for  my  mis¬ 
sion  was  to  learn  the  truth  about  the  issues  of  inter¬ 
national  friendship  as  related  to  the  Christian  churches 
and  to  stimulate  that  ideal. 

The  result  was  the  delightful  discovery  of  a  “ peace” 
sentiment  in  Japan  far  beyond  anything  I  had  supposed 
possible.  From  the  time  I  arrived  in  Yokohama  till 
I  left  for  China  I  was  constantly  and  everywhere  con¬ 
scious  of  a  deep,  genuine,  growing  hunger  for  world 
peace  and  a  desire  to  know  that  humanity  had  put  war 


36  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

behind  it  and  was  to  pursue  conference  methods  for 
settling  differences  in  the  future. 

I  am  perfectly  willing  to  record  this  statement  and 
meet  it  any  time  for  the  next  twenty-five  years  or  more. 
The  military  party  may  be  strong;  it  doubtless  is. 
There  may  be  strenuous  armament  plans  being  carried 
on ;  there  doubtless  are.  There  may  be  a  rather  extreme 
nationalist  movement  which  thrives  on  jealousy  of 
other  nations;  there  doubtless  is.  There  may  have 
been  some  serious  blunders  in  diplomacy  and  some  un¬ 
thinkable  methods  in  military  control;  there  doubtless 
have  been. 

But  in  the  midst  of  it  all  there  is  a  veritable  passion 
for  peace  and  disarmament  which  I  firmly  believe  rep¬ 
resents  the  view  of  a  vast  majority  of  the  people.  What¬ 
ever  may  be  the  motives  of  some,  this  fact  is  as  sure  as 
that  I  saw  snow  on  Fujiyama,  jinrikshas  on  the  streets 
or  rice  in  the  fields. 

This  evidence  was  found  in  the  first  place  in  the 
organized  peace  societies.  I  am  led  to  believe  there  are 
more  different  kinds  of  this  work  going  on  in  Japan 
than  can  be  found  in  the  United  States.  The  Japanese 
Council  of  the  “World  Alliance  of  Churches  for  Inter¬ 
national  Friendship”  is  doubtless  the  most  conspicuous 
one  and  most  widely  known.  Then  the  Committee  upon 
International  Friendship  of  the  “Federated  Missions 
of  Japan”  and  a  similar  committee  of  the  “Federation 
of  Churches  of  Japan”  are  both  active.  “The  Society 
of  New  Men,”  non-sectarian,  little  advertised  but  pow¬ 
erful  in  personalities,  is  really  a  peace  effort. 

Nearly  every  university,  college,  and  school  of  first 
importance  has  a  peace  committee  or  department  in 
operation. 


JAPAN  37 

From  the  standpoint  of  effect  upon  the  Government 
and  politics,  “The  Japan  Peace  Society,”  of  which 
Baron  Yoshiro  Sakatani  is  president,  is  the  most  sig¬ 
nificant.  I  have  known  Baron  Sakatani  personally  for 
nine  years  and  believe  him  to  be  a  noble,  sincere  man 
of  great  force. 

Perhaps  the  newest  and  the  one  of  greatest  possi¬ 
bilities  is  the  “Woman’s  National  Peace  Society,” 
which,  while  largely  directed  by  Christian  women,  is 
by  no  means  confined  to  Christians.  Many  of 
Japan’s  most  influential  women  of  all  faiths  are 
interested  in  it  and  are  determined  to  have  the 
voice  of  their  sex  heard  on  the  war  questions  of  the 
future. 

In  Korea,  where  they  have  suffered  so  much  and  are 
naturally  grieved  almost  beyond  measure  to  be  com¬ 
pelled  to  live  in  the  presence  of  the  Japanese  soldier 
guarding  every  railway  platform  and  crossroad,  never¬ 
theless  the  Christian  churches,  the  Federated  Missions, 
as  well  as  some  independent  citizens’  organizations, 
have  peace  or  international  friendship  committees  in 
active  work.  At  a  packed  meeting  in  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  at  Seoul  on  Christmas  Sunday 
the  young  men  applauded  to  the  echo  an  address  which 
prophesied  peace  instead  of  war  as  the  coming  method 
of  human  relationships.  The  organized  expressions  of 
Japan’s  weariness  of  war  are  a  powerful  testimony  of 
the  desire  for  friendship. 

The  attitude  of  the  public  press  also  gives  certainty 
of  this  fact.  Our  ship,  much  delayed,  came  into  har¬ 
bor  at  Yokohama  amidst  a  severe  storm  and  docked 
after  dark.  Before  I  was  able  to  get  my  hand  bag¬ 
gage  out  of  the  stateroom  ten  reporters  from  as  many 


38  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

different  dailies  were  in  my  room  clamoring  for  an  in¬ 
terview.  I  jokingly  told  them  I  was  not  a  candidate 
for  office,  or  the  king  of  any  country.  The  answer  was, 
“You  represent  peace  and  Japan  is  glad  to  welcome 
you.”  I  was  told  that  my  visit  and  what  I  said  were 
written  up  literally  as  a  “front  page  headliner”  in 
every  prominent  newspaper  in  Japan  all  the  time  I  was 
there.  I  was  never  photographed  so  many  times  in  my 
life  in  so  short  a  space  of  time.  This  certainly  was  not 
personal  interest,  but  a  genuine  indication  that  the 
newspapers  were  after  the  “stuff”  the  people  wanted  to 
read.  Not  every  paper  in  Japan  shares  this  feeling; 
they  have  some  of  the  same  “yellow”  character  found 
in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles,  Chicago,  New  York, 
London,  and  Paris.  But  for  the  most  part  the  peace 
hope  is  the  biggest  theme  of  the  periodicals,  papers, 
and  magazines  of  the  entire  country. 

The  enthusiastic  interest  in  the  Washington  Confer¬ 
ence  on  the  Limitation  of  Armaments  was  another 
guarantee  of  the  power  of  the  peace  desire  there.  At 
no  interview,  at  no  meeting,  at  no  conference  could 
this  subject  be  left  out.  Every  time  I  was  introduced 
to  speak  the  audience  was  assured  that  I  would  bring 
the  latest  information  upon  that  subject.  In  this  con¬ 
nection  the  names  of  Harding  and  Hughes  were  nearly 
always  used  as  the  chief  champions  of  peace.  The  in¬ 
terpreter  told  me  at  one  place  during  an  introduction 
that  the  chairman  said:  “America  once  produced  a 
Lincoln  who  gave  liberty  to  one  race,  but  now  I  think 
she  will  produce  a  Harding  to  give  freedom  from  war 
to  all  races.”  There  were  those  opposed  to  the  Con¬ 
ference  as  there  were  in  other  countries,  but  they  were 
an  unimportant  minority;  essentially  the  Japanese  were 


JAPAN  39 

intensely  in  favor  of  it  as  a  strong  prophecy  of  per¬ 
manent  peace. 

The  enthusiasm  and  attendance  where  meetings  and 
functions  were  held  upon  this  topic  were  also  a  token 
of  this  fact.  Unattended  by  something  else,  this  may 
be  a  poor  or  doubtful  factor  upon  which  to  base  judg¬ 
ment  of  the  real  sentiment  of  people,  but  when  sur¬ 
rounded  by  the  contributing  elements  which  were  pres¬ 
ent  here  I  believe  it  may  be  given  due  consideration. 
After  many  years’  experience  with  this  type  of  work, 
and  being  rather  capable  of  giving  fairly  accurate  esti¬ 
mate  of  its  value,  I  venture  to  say  that  not  at  any  time 
or  place  have  I  witnessed  such  profound  interest  or 
manifest  approval  in  platform  presentation  as  in  these 
events  in  Japan,  with  the  possible  exception  of  some 
such  evefits  during  the  Great  War.  To  my  surprise 
and  satisfaction,  I  found  in  Japan  that  a  plea  for  world 
peace  would  produce  as  spontaneous  sanction  as  a  call 
for  fidelity  to  patriotism  in  a  world  war.  Out  of  sev¬ 
eral  meetings  this  reached  perhaps  its  highest  point  in 
Osaka  (the  Japanese  Pittsburgh).  The  address  lasted 
two  hours  and  ten  minutes,  one-half  for  direct  presen¬ 
tation  and  one-half  for  interpretation  by  Mr.  Kato, 
chief  editor  of  the  Osaka  Mainichi  and  the  Tokyo 
Nichi-Nichi.  At  the  close  I  did  what  occurred  at  only 
one  other  place.  I  asked  every  man  in  the  audience  who 
believed  in  everlasting  world  peace  and  who  felt  that 
Japan  never  ought  to  engage  in  another  war  to  raise 
his  right  hand.  Instantly  practically  every  hand  in  the 
audience  was  up,  and  then,  without  signal,  suggestion 
or  leadership,  involuntarily  the  whole  audience  rose 
and  shouted  uproariously,  “Banzai,  Banzai !”  To  catch 
the  full  significance  of  this  one  needs  to  be  reminded 


4o  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

that  this  is  not  the  usual  style  of  approval  by  the  Ori¬ 
ental.  In  some  form  this  was  typical  of  the  spirit  of 
every  public  meeting  everywhere. 

The  same  interest  in  a  more  dignified  form  was 
shown  in  the  luncheons  or  banquets  for  public  officials 
and  business  men  in  nearly  every  city.  In  Tokyo  about 
one  hundred  were  the  guests  of  Baron  Sakatani,  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Imperial  Diet  and  former  Mayor  of  the  city, 
and  Mr.  Fujiyama,  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Com¬ 
merce.  Eight  bank  presidents  were  in  attendance,  sev¬ 
eral  managers  of  leading  business  houses,  city  officials 
and  educators.  Similar  events  occurred  at  Kyoto, 
Osaka  and  Kobe.  At  the  latter  175  men  of  the  same 
type  attended  the  banquet  presided  over  by  Hon.  C. 
Ariyoshi,  the  Governor  of  the  district,  at  which  the 
Mayor  of  the  city,  Hon.  T.  Sakurai,  was  also  a  speaker. 
At  all  of  these  the  feeling  in  behalf  of  universal  peace 
was  tremendous.  And  running  through  them  all  was 
a  fervent  appeal  for  understanding  between  the  United 
States  and  Japan. 

The  frankness  with  which  many  men  of  many  kinds 
freely  commented  upon  the  fact  that  Japan  had  made 
some  serious  mistakes  in  relationships  with  China  and 
Korea  was  to  me  an  added  earnest  of  a  fervent  desire 
for  peace  and  a  future  free  from  the  diplomatic  blun¬ 
ders  of  the  past.  I  am  quite  aware  that  admissions  of 
this  kind  are  not  spoken  by  many  and  it  may  not  be 
realized  by  the  majority,  but  among  those  I  talked 
with  and  met  there  seemed  an  openness  and  liberty  to 
speak  of  serious  errors  and  acknowledge  wrongs  which 
was  surprising  and  at  the  same  time  assuring.  One 
could  only  wish  that  a  similar  willingness  to  concede 
wrong  and  less  persistence  upon  infallibility  could  be 


JAPAN  41 

heard  in  some  portions  of  Europe ;  it  might  kindle  new 
hopes  for  lasting  peace  and  prosperity  in  that  part  of 
the  universe. 

The  unwavering  unanimity  of  all  Christians  of  every 
kind  and  name  as  messengers  of  world  peace  was  also 
a  satisfying  proof  of  the  strength  of  this  hope  in  the 
nation.  Numerically  the  church  membership  is  not 
large  in  Japan — about  300,000  total.  In  Korea  prob¬ 
ably  about  the  same.  But  the  permeating  effect  of 
these  Christians  upon  social,  educational,  civic,  and 
moral  issues  cannot  be  measured  by  their  numbers.  I 
heard  public  men  of  entirely  different  religions  refer 
to  the  Christians  as  the  leaders  of  the  great  progressive 
ideals.  They  are  the  leavening  hope  of  the  old  world. 
Therefore,  I  was  encouraged  to  note  the  unbroken  soli¬ 
darity  of  the  Christian  clientele  for  world  peace. 

Once  again  it  seems  necessary  to  say  that  the  writer 
makes  no  profession  of  wisdom  enough  to  give  decided 
opinion  upon  vexed  political  topics  or  merits  of  Japan's 
severe  critics,  but  only  to  affirm  with  gratitude  to  God 
that  the  peace  movement  and  sincere  desire  for  inter¬ 
national  good  will  are  a  reality  in  Japan  and  may  be 
reckoned  as  a  worthy  factor  in  the  better  days  hoped 
for  by  all  good  people  throughout  the  world. 


JAPAN 

Part  Two:  What  Japan  Is  Thinking 

AS  a  messenger  of  the  hope  of  a  world  brother¬ 
hood,  where  good  will  and  cooperation  will  sup¬ 
plant  the  old  order  of  “an  eye  for  an  eye”  and 
“a  pound  of  flesh”  for  every  grievance,  I  could  not  turn 
aside  lightly  from  certain  great  facts  I  met  in  Japan 
which  reflected  what  they  are  thinking  there,  and  be¬ 
cause  they  are  so  thinking  all  who  work  for  under¬ 
standing  and  cooperation  must  give  consideration  to 
them.  If  they  are  wrong  in  their  conclusions,  they  must 
be  so  convinced;  if  they  are  right,  they  must  be  given 
their  place  in  reaching  decisions.  In  presenting  the 
following  statements  I  do  not  wish  to  argue  any  par¬ 
ticular  view,  but  only  to  convey  the  truth  of  the  state¬ 
ments  made  to  me  by  serious  men  of  many  kinds 
whose  honesty  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt.  I  will  ad¬ 
vance,  however,  to  comment  that  no  progress  will  be 
made  toward  final  peace  by  those  of  any  department  of 
life  who  refuse  to  give  these  facts  just  recognition. 
The  Japanese  people  are  thinking  these  things  in  des¬ 
perate  earnestness  of  a  kind  which  will  not  be  easily 
brushed  aside. 

In  the  first  place,  they  are  thinking  that  there  is  no 
permanent  reason  why  the  brown  and  yellow  races  are 
to  be  forever  subservient  to  the  domineering  attitude  of 

42 


JAPAN  43 

the  white  man.  As  they  study  their  own  national  and 
individual  characteristics,  they  are  not  willing  to  admit 
that  the  Japanese  is  an  inferior  being.  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  they  could  get  a  verdict  in  their  favor  upon 
this  point  from  a  fair-minded  jury  which  had  all  the 
facts  before  it.  “Forward,”  “Progress,”  seem  to  be 
written  all  over  Japan.  Their  energy  is  unbounded, 
their  determination  is  contagious.  I  spoke  to  great 
audiences  in  auditoriums  as  beautiful  as  anything  in 
New  York  City.  I  addressed  one  meeting  of  business 
men  in  a  club  in  Tokyo  more  beautiful  in  furnishings 
than  any  I  know  of  in  America.  I  remember  only  one 
which  equals  it  in  London.  In  all  of  these  clubs  and 
gatherings  of  business  men  I  was  reminded  that  the 
yen  is  at  par  in  any  bank  in  the  world  and  above  par 
all  over  the  Orient,  giving  proof  of  their  solvent  eco¬ 
nomic  situation. 

In  most  of  these  clubs  I  was  ill  at  ease,  for  my 
clothes  were  not  so  perfectly  cut  as  those  of  the  men 
to  whom  I  was  speaking.  By  the  way,  “European 
clothes”  are  the  common  thing  in  Japan.  In  audiences 
numbering  from  one  hundred  to  four  thousand  nearly 
all  the  men  were  fitted  out  in  so-called  “European’’ 
suits  of  the  latest  model.  I  could  not  but  hope  that 
-  some  influence  would  save  the  Japanese  women  from 
following  the  trend  of  the  men  in  this  respect.  From 
the  standpoint  of  grace,  beauty,  modesty,  and  comfort 
their  own  are  far  superior.  I  do  not  believe  any  half¬ 
respectable  Japanese  woman  could  be  hired  to  appear 
in  the  half -naked  costume  of  the  American  or  Euro¬ 
pean  society  lady  in  evening  attire.  The  Japanese  wo¬ 
man  has  some  modesty  left,  the  European  and  Ameri¬ 
can  seem  to  have  assassinated  theirs. 


44  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

I  met  personalities  as  finished  as  found  anywhere  on 
earth.  Their  courtesy  makes  the  ordinary  man  from 
the  West  look  like  a  coarse  boor.  My  wife  attended 
a  charming  reception  in  a  Japanese  home  where  seven 
white  men  were  present,  three  of  them  so  disgracefully 
drunk  that  they  insulted  the  entire  company. 

I  sat  at  a  banquet  one  night  between  two  men  who 
kept  me  in  constant  anxiety  by  their  discussion  of 
history  and  literature  about  which  I  knew  but  little.  I 
was  told  that  next  to  the  municipal  building  the  public 
school  building  was  the  finest  in  every  town  in  Japan. 
I  saw  many  of  these  myself.  Ninety-six  per  cent,  of 
all  the  people  are  literate.  Schools  and  colleges  are 
running  to  full  capacity.  There  is  a  nation-wide  pas¬ 
sion  for  education.  I  met  a  Japanese  shipowner  who 
had  just  given  away  $2,000,000  for  educational  pur¬ 
poses.  From  any  view  they  take  of  the  Occidental, 
mentally,  socially,  commercially,  or  morally,  they  are 
unable  to  discover  the  “Why?”  of  this  assumed  pre¬ 
eminence.  This  whole  note  of  progress  is  what  is 
called  the  “high  collar”  movement,  which  means  that 
the  Japanese  has  dressed  himself  up  to  date  in  every 
feature,  including  his  clothes,  his  manners,  his  mind, 
and  his  pocket-book.  By  the  law  of  evidence  and  com¬ 
parison  they  have  candidly  concluded  they  are  not  less 
in  future  possibilities  than  other  men  and  are  demand¬ 
ing  to  be  met  upon  a  platform  of  equality  for  all  time 
to  come  upon  all  questions  to  be  mooted.  Peace,  har¬ 
mony,  and  understanding  are  idle  dreams  when  Japan 
is  involved,  unless  the  conferees  have  accepted  fully 
this  fact  number  one. 

In  the  second  place,  Japan  believes  the  white  man 
would  have  swallowed  the  whole  earth  if  she  had  not 


JAPAN  45 

protested.  She  had  watched  Germany  with  her  ban¬ 
ners  flying,  “Germany  Uber  Alles.”  She  had  heard  the 
Britisher  singing  “Rule  Britannia.”  She  had  observed 
the  American  loudly  proclaiming  “America  First”  any¬ 
where  he  put  up  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  She  had  seen 
the  Russian  slowly  but  surely  moving  toward  a  pan- 
Slavic  control  of  the  western  Pacific.  She  had  wit¬ 
nessed  the  great  powers  meet  to  divide  up  China.  She 
looked  at  the  map  and  observed  that  the  white  man, 
with  one-quarter  of  the  population  of  the  world,  was 
in  control  of  seven-tenths  of  its  surface  and  certainly 
planning  to  take  the  rest  promptly.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  as  she  studied  this  map,  about  all  there  was  left  of 
the  darker  races,  not  in  some  form  dominated  by  the 
white  man,  was  her  own  soil  and  a  white  man’s  face 
upon  the  horizon  of  every  point  of  the  compass,  as  she 
believed  and  believes  ready  to  swallow  her  up  also. 
Unorganized  Africa  seemed  to  ofifer  but  little  resist¬ 
ance.  India  was  apparenty  without  any  method  to 
oppose  successfully  the  onslaught,  China  hopelessly 
divided,  lying  upon  her  back  in  despair,  Korea,  the 
buffer  for  all  the  ill  winds  which  seemed  to  blow.  In 
the  language  of  the  American  westerner,  she  simply 
got  up  on  her  hind  legs  and  issued  a  protest.  What¬ 
ever  argument  there  may  be  about  the  ethics  of  the  pro¬ 
cedure  and  methods  employed,  the  protest  has  been 
heard  and  the  white  man  has  stopped,  for  the  time 
being  at  least,  in  the  presence  of  this  protest  made  so 
loud  that  it  has  been  heard  around  the  world.  Right 
or  wrong,  Japan  believes  furiously  that  her  protest  has 
saved  the  day,  and  that  eventually  all  the  darker  races 
will  praise  her  for  her  courage  and  indomitable  will. 

In  the  third  place ,  Japan  is  thinking  that  whatever 


46  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

she  has  achieved  in  securing  recognition  from  the  rest 
of  the  world  has  been  because  she  fought  for  it.  Upon 
nearly  every  occasion  when  I  tactfully  spoke  of  the 
general  impression  that  Japan  had  become  “militaristic” 
or  was  accused  of  being  the  “Hohenzollerns  of  the 
East”  the  same  answer  was  forthcoming.  In  substance 
it  was  that  the  West  came  to  the  East  with  battleships, 
navies,  and  armies.  Her  invasion  was  everywhere 
under  a  military  threat  and  the  only  answer  was  to 
fight.  They  are  sure  Russia  meant  to  take  Korea,  the 
Japan  Sea,  and  the  Yellow  Sea.  They  fought  both 
China  and  Russia  and  won.  They  were  very  en¬ 
thusiastically  invited  to  clear  the  Pacific  of  Germans  in 
1914.  They  fought  then  and  won.  They  are  thinking 
that  the  results  they  have  attained  in  the  integrity  of 
their  own  soil,  freedom  from  Russian  or  German  in¬ 
vasion  and  a  place  of  respect  among  the  great  powers, 
is  because  they  fought.  It  is  not  strange  that  their 
minds  often  return  to  the  fact  that  they  had  a  first  place 
in  the  Washington  Conference  upon  the  Limitation  of 
Armaments  and  that  they  are  in  the  famous  “Quadruple 
Alliance,”  and  that  out  of  what  only  a  few  years  ago 
was  a  position  of  begging  for  the  crumbs  which  fell 
from  the  white  man’s  table  they  have  come  to  be  a 
respected  guest. 

That  man  does  not  live  who  can  convince  them  that 
any  such  place  in  the  world  would  ever  have  come  to 
them  if  they  had  just  sweetly  waited  for  the  roaring 
white  man  to  give  it  to  them  voluntarily.  The  white 
man’s  history  has  not  been  so  full  of  that  kind  of 
magnanimity  that  they  were  able  to  embrace  such  a 
hope.  The  whole  past  military  record  of  Japan  is 
written  in  this  deep  conviction  they  have,  that 


JAPAN  47 

fighting  has  done  this  much.  They  know  British,  Rus¬ 
sian,  German,  French,  and  American  history  and  are 
suspicious.  Their  minds  work  like  lightning.  Ameri¬ 
cans  repeatedly  say,  “Look  out  for  the  Japanese;  they 
are  clever.”  Rather  interesting  that  the  American, 
who  loves  so  much  to  be  told  “he  is  clever”  and  revels 
in  the  thought  as  his  chief  virtue,  should  regard  the 
same  quality  when  found  in  the  Japanese  as  a  heinous 
sin,  a  sort  of  crime. 

On  a  train  from  Mukden  to  Peking  one  day  I  got 
into  a  conversation  with  four  Americans  and  one 
Britisher.  They  furiously  assailed  the  Japanese  mer¬ 
chants.  I  asked  for  particulars  and  one  of  them  finally 
said,  “They  have  just  cleaned  us  out  of  the  fur  trade 
all  over  Manchuria.”  I  could  not  but  wonder  if  some 
of  this  sentiment  was  not  jealousy  of  the  white  man 
that  a  brown  man  had  risen  in  the  business  world  who 
was  more  than  a  match  for  him.  This  cleverness  in 
the  commercial  realm  is  naturally  reflecting  itself  upon 
the  present  political  issues. 

They  are  thinking  hard  just  now;  they  want  arma¬ 
ments  limited;  they  want  peace  if  possible,  but  un¬ 
doubtedly  they  are  cherishing  hopes  beyond  the  present, 
and  if  they  cannot  get  what  seems  a  fair  deal  any  other 
way,  they  are  thinking  they  may  be  called  upon  to  fight 
some  more.  This  need  not  be  scoffed  at,  after  all,  by 
the  West  as  such  a  strange  philosophy.  I  heard  one 
high-grade  Christian  Japanese  tell  of  being  in  London 
in  1914  when  all  the  press  praised  the  naval  prepared¬ 
ness  of  Britain  as  the  only  hope  of  preserving  the 
Empire.  A  little  later  he  said  he  was  in  New  York 
and  saw  the  greatest  parade  of  his  life,  when  all 
America  seemed  marching  to  the  tune  of  “military 


48  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

preparedness.”  The  military  philosophy  of  Japan  is 
based  upon  observation  of  Western  methods.  There 
may  be  intrigue,  deception,  and  all  sorts  of  wild  dreams 
mixed  up  in  it,  but  these  do  not  change  the  mental 
operations  of  the  people.  America’s  second  religion, 
the  “Monroe  Doctrine,”  for  which  she  has  fought,  has 
given  birth  to  a  child  in  Japan  called  “Militarism.” 

In  the  fourth  place ,  Japan  is  thinking  that  there  is 
nothing  to  he  gained  by  long  extended  delays  in  the 
readjustments.  It  is  quite  probable  that  the  military 
party  is  making  big  use  of  this  thought  and  seeking  to 
capitalize  it  as  a  doctrine  of  jealousy  and  unrest.  But 
granting  all  this,  and  even  more  which  might  be  added, 
the  people  generally  believe  that  now  is  the  day  of  their 
salvation  and  that  to  delay  pressure  would  endanger 
all  the  advantage  gained.  Hence  the  persistence  with 
which  they  are  urging  their  views  now. 

Whatever  is  said  of  Japan  and  her  people,  no  one 
accuses  her  of  being  dull  in  the  thinking  department, 
and  just  quietly  reasoning  from  cause  to  effect  from 
one  incident  in  history  to  another,  she  says,  “We  had 
better  take  our  firm  stand  now,  or  a  few  more  strokes 
of  Western  diplomacy  (which  she  utterly  distrusts) 
may  put  us  where  we  will  have  no  capacity  to  resist.” 
One  very  earnest  minister  of  a  native  Christian  church, 
who  was  accused  of  being  a  pacifist,  said  in  my  hear¬ 
ing,  “If  Japan  is  not  heard  now,  she  never  will  be.” 
Therefore,  this  stubborn  insistence  upon  some  things 
being  settled  immediately.  Japan  must  be  met  upon 
the  basis  of  what  she  is  honestly  thinking,  and  not  what 
the  American  thinks  she  ought  to  think. 


CHAPTER  VI 


CHINA 

Part  One:  Where  the  Peace  Doctrine  Has  Been  Tried 

and  Failed 

Nr0  stranger  contradiction  could  come  to  a  man,  or 
no  stranger  reversal  of  what  might  be  called 
the  psychology  of  crowds,  than  to  spend  some 
time  in  European  nations  speaking  upon  the  necessity 
of  world  peace  and  the  abolition  of  the  war  method, 
and  to  remember  the  joy  with  which  such  a  proposal 
was  received  everywhere,  then  to  follow  with  great 
meetings  straight  across  the  United  States  of  America 
in  cities  and  universities  upon  the  same  theme,  always 
to  be  met  with  the  characteristic  American  enthusiasm 
and  approval,  then  to  have  a  perfect  whirlwind  cam¬ 
paign  over  Japan,  speaking  of  the  possibility  of  a  war¬ 
less  world,  again  to  be  received  with  such  praise  that 
one  was  at  times  nearly  swept  off  his  feet  amid  the 
applause,  and  then  to  come  to  China.  In  all  these  cities 
and  countries  mentioned,  representing  nearly  12,000 
miles  of  geography  from  east  to  west,  I  had  been  looked 
upon  as  a  progressive,  as  a  prophet  of  a  new  dawning 
era,  as  a  harbinger  of  a  great  hope  just  beginning  to 
take  root  in  the  world.  In  substance,  the  only  query 
seemed  to  be,  “Is  it  not  too  good  to  be  really  true?” 
There  was  no  opposition  worth  noticing  to  the  general 

49 


50  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

proposition.  Some  doubt  was  expressed  here  and  there 
about  the  methods  proposed,  but  that  war  stood  con¬ 
demned  before  the  court  of  human  judgment  all  gladly 
acknowledged.  If  it  does  not  sound  too  much  like  con¬ 
ceit,  I  had  been  indulging  myself  in  the  thought  of 
having  been  privileged  to  get  up  in  a  high  place,  where 
a  wider  vision  could  be  seen  of  a  better  order  of  peace 
and  brotherhood  coming  upon  the  horizon  than  that 
accorded  to  most  folks. 

Then  I  came  to  China.  It  will  be  many  years  before 
I  can  forget  the  change  in  atmosphere,  in  attitude,  in 
response.  There  was  no  applause,  no  gathering  around 
for  hearty  congratulations,  no  great  manifestations  of 
enthusiasm.  These  audiences,  at  first  at  least,  seemed 
to  look  and  listen  with  surprise  and  pity.  Then  I 
slowly  got  their  point  of  view.  They  looked  upon  me 
as  a  delayed  sort  of  man,  a  fellow  who  had  arrived 
too  late,  one  who  was  about  two  generations  behind  the 
times,  an  expositor  of  an  idealism  which  had  been  tried, 
weighed  in  the  balance,  and  found  woefully  wanting. 

China  was  saying  to  me :  “Yes,  that  is  beautiful,  we 
wish  it  were  true ;  we  preached  it  and  tried  to  practice 
it,  we  traditionally  love  it;  but  as  a  practical  proposi¬ 
tion  any  man  is  a  fool  who  advocates  it.  Look  at 
us,  400,000,000  strong  in  population,  yet  peace  has 
made  us  the  serfs  of  the  earth,  the  football  for  the  game 
of  world  diplomacy.  Peace  has  brought  us  a  wrecked 
national  life  and  one  almost  without  hope  in  the  future. 
You  come  from  a  Western  nation  which  has  fought 
her  way  by  frequent  wars  to  wealth  and  power  and 
now  maintains  her  position  by  big  navies  and  armies. 
Your  doctrine  has  failed  with  us  and  its  opposite  has 
succeeded  in  your  own  country.  Much  as  we  dread  the 


CHINA 


5i 


process,  we  are  now  going  to  organize  our  millions  of 
men  for  war,  and  even  if  it  takes  fifty  years  and  fifty 
million  men  we  are  going  to  fight  our  way  out  of  the 
mire  peace  got  us  into.” 

I  was  where  all  the  evidence  seemed  to  prove  that 
international  good  will  and  universal  brotherhood  were 
dreams  only  to  be  indulged  in  by  the  student  in  his 
study  and  the  over-sentimentalists.  The  intensity  of 
this  feeling  was  brought  to  my  attention  one  night 
when,  following  an  address  in  which  I  had  said,  “China 
had  better  suffer  injustice  for  a  hundred  years  than 
resort  to  war,”  a  Chinese  Christian  minister  of  high 
character  and  more  than  ordinary  spiritual  fervor  said 
to  me  privately,  “Mr.  Smith,  you  talked  of  a  hundred 
years,  but  we  have  now  suffered  injustice  and  ignominy 
for  a  thousand  years  and  see  no  relief.”  This  view 
was  not  confined  to  Chinese  alone,  but  to  my  utter 
astonishment  found  expression  among  some  American 
and  European  missionaries.  One  as  noble  as  any 
Christian  I  ever  met,  after  hearing  my  first  address, 
said :  “Smith,  that  is  all  very  well,  but  the  next  thing 
the  Chinese  must  do  is  to  whip  somebody  in  the  war 
game  and  get  some  kind  of  respect  among  the  nations 
of  the  world  before  we  can  hope  to  make  this  people 
truly  great.” 

This  terribly  solemn  conclusion  had  been  borne  in 
upon  them  not  only  by  remembrance  of  the  past  but 
by  the  results  of  the  most  recent  efforts  of  diplomacy. 
The  Washington  Conference  had  at  first  ruled  out 
the  Shantung  Question  as  irrelevant  to  a  meeting  called 
to  discuss  the  Pacific  Ocean  issues.  To  the  Chinese 
Shantung  Province,  with  its  sacred  temples  and 
shrines,  its  soil  the  birthplace  of  Confucius,  its  enor- 


5 2  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

mous  commercial  resources  and  strategic  distributing 
possibilities,  now  controlled  by  alien  people,  is  the 
Pacific  problem.  They  can’t  talk,  think,  or  plan  with¬ 
out  reckoning  with  this  issue.  They  had  prayed  for  a 
hearing  of  the  “Twenty-one  Demands”  document,  only 
to  get  no  answer.  One  Chinese  university  man,  a 
Christian  of  high  standing,  said  to  me :  “The  only 
language  the  Versailles  Conference  knew  or  the  Wash¬ 
ington  Conference  knows  now  is  the  threat  of  a  big 
gun.  We  have  none  at  present  large  enough  to  speak, 
but  we  are  going  to  get  them,  and  then  we  will  be 
heard.”  I  had  come  to  a  nation,  the  largest  numerically 
on  earth,  where  they  seemed  to  have  closed  the  books 
on  poetry  and  philosophy  of  peace  as  being  antiquated 
and  were  getting  the  engineers  ready  to  estimate  their 
war  strength  and  tell  how  long  a  time  would  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  get  equipped  for  the  slaughter. 

This  attitude  of  mind  seemed  to  be  almost  unani¬ 
mous,  so  much  so  that  I  was  soon  made  aware  that  the 
committees  handling  my  program  were  kindly,  but 
earnestly,  trying  to  divert  me  from  pressing  inter¬ 
national  friendship  to  other  themes  of  a  more  general 
character.  But  presently  I  began  to  find  that  of  all 
places  visited  there  was  none  where  they  would  so 
deeply  love  to  share  my  views  if  they  could  only  have 
any  real  grounds  for  genuine  expectation  that  the  thing 
would  work.  I  found  that  I  was  following  the  same 
route  of  travel  as  that ‘taken  by  the  great  Rev.  H.  T. 
Hodgkin,  of  London,  while  he  was  delivering  a  series 
of  lectures  upon  the  same  general  subject,  and  that  at 
every  place  he  had  left  behind  a  profound  impression 
of  real  belief  that  world  concord  was  not  a  phantom 
vision,  but  a  tangible  possibility.  I  availed  myself  of 


CHINA 


53 


the  advantage  in  cooperation  with  those  groups  he  had 
left,  and  very  rapidly  learned  that  if  only  the  rest  of 
the  world  will  give  any  adequate  evidence  of  sincerity 
in  its  disarmament  and  permanent  peace  proposals, 
there  will  be  no  trouble  with  China.  All  the  Chinese 
ask  for  now  is  a  decent  chance  to  show  their  real  heart 
upon  the  doctrine  I  was  there  to  preach,  and  they  will 
not  be  classified  as  militarists,  but  as  the  supreme  lovers 
of  peace. 

Whatever  may  be  the  vexed  questions  upon  which 
men  may  differ  concerning  the  China  of  the  future,  the 
rest  of  the  world  ought  to  see  that  they  are  given  such 
an  abundant  opportunity.  They  deserve  above  all  else 
such  encouragement  now. 

In  the  first  place ,  that  as  a  nation  they  may  be  rescued 
from  further  attempts  at  military  preparedness ,  just 
when  all  the  world  seems  bent  on  wiping  out  the  menace 
of  militarism.  Europe  is  stirred  by  contempt  of  the 
“War  Lord”  party,  and  is  every  day  trying  to  belittle 
further  military  activities.  The  public  platform,  the 
press,  and  the  educators  of  the  United  States  are 
constantly  warning  the  people  lest  unawares  that 
nation  be  swept  into  the  peril  of  big  armies  and  navies. 
The  severest  critic  of  the  Japanese,  when  aroused  to  say 
the  worst  thing  possible,  charges  them  with  being 
“militaristic.”  It  is  a  synonym  of  contempt,  a  thing 
to  be  dreaded  and  annihilated.  Strange,  if  while  the 
rest  of  the  world  so  condemns  this  principle  it  should 
by  its  blundering,  materialistic,  nationalized,  office¬ 
seeking  diplomacy  drive  the  most  peace-loving  nation 
in  the  world  to  militarism  to  save  its  life  from  utter 
collapse. 

I  do  not  know  just  what  the  real  issues  are.  I  did 


54  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

not  attempt  to  find  out,  for  I  was  not  a  judge,  a  member 
of  the  jury,  or  an  arbitrator.  But  I  did  not  find  one  man 
from  Paris  to  Peking  who,  if  the  Chinese  question 
came  up,  did  not  say  that  great  injustice  had  been  done 
to  China.  All  with  one  accord  agree  upon  this  point. 
If  unfair  dealing  is  persisted  in,  and  no  apparent  hope 
suggested  from  other  sources,  then  China  will  be 
militaristic,  and  finally  some  day  that  means  war,  and 
when  it  comes  it  will  not  be  between  China  and  some 
other  single  nation.  But  it  will  surely  involve  every 
nation  with  a  foot  on  the  Pacific  shores  anywhere.  As 
an  earnest  of  reality,  of  sincerity,  of  honesty,  the  big 
talkers  against  militarism  ought  to  see  to  it  that  China 
gets  a  square  deal. 

In  the  second  place,  China  deserves  encouragement 
to  proceed  by  peaceful  methods,  because  she  is  not  by 
temperament,  tradition,  or  training  a  soldier-like  type. 
Hers  is  the  natural  aptitude  for  philosophy,  literature, 
and  the  scholastic  life.  I  shall  later  speak  of  what  a 
pitifully  small  percentage  of  her  people  ever  had  oppor¬ 
tunity  in  this  realm,  but  nevertheless  that  is  her  charac¬ 
teristic,  evidenced  by  every  man  who  has  had  long 
knowledge  of  her  people.  In  this  connection  it  may 
also  be  said  that  she  is  not  materialistic.  Perhaps  she 
ought  to  be  more  so,  grant  that.  But  I  wonder  if  the 
nations  with  marching  soldiers  and  speeding  warships 
and  overfed  millionaires  would  not  themselves  profit  in 
some  nobler  qualities  if  they  should  unite  to  let  great 
China  have  an  unobstructed  opportunity  for  growth 
and  prosperity  without  fighting  for  it.  While  writing  I 
am  reading  Sir  Philip  Gibbs's  “More  That  Must  Be 
Told,”  in  which  he  so  furiously  and  justly  condemns 
the  debauch  of  militarism  which  has  followed  the  war. 


CHINA 


55 


If  his  conclusions  are  correct  and  the  need  of  the  world 
is  a  nationalism  of  more  spiritual  type,  which  I  firmly 
believe,  then  China  ought  to  be  given  guarantees  that 
she  can  go  forward,  letting  her  truest  characteristic  be 
revealed  without  resort  to  bloodshed  and  slaughter  of 
human  beings.  I  looked  at  Chinese  soldiers  and  could 
not  but  feel  a  sense  of  indignation  that  these  men  were 
being  forced  to  wear  clothes  not  to  their  liking  and 
stand  at  “attention”  when  they  so  poorly  know  how  to 
handle  a  gun.  The  Chinese  soldier  is  an  artificial 
product.  The  world  of  politics  and  affairs  in  history 
has  enough  sad  pages  to  reckon  with  now,  without 
adding  another  in  a  vicious  debauch  of  China  and  her 
resources.  If  this  nation  is  forced  to  go  on  arming 
and  by  so  doing  go  on  spreading  poverty,  which  is 
already  unspeakable  and  indescribable,  and  eventually 
to  break  out  in  another  war,  I  believe  it  will  be  the 
supreme  crime  of  human  history. 

In  the  third  place  China  deserves  a  square ,  honest 
deal  and  a  peaceable  opportunity  to  go  forward,  because 
of  the  superb  contribution  she  can  make  to  the  ultimate 
peace  of  the  world. 

Earlier  reference  was  made  to  what  seemed  to  be 
the  overwhelming  sentiment  for  war.  That  is  true  and 
it  remains  true  and  will  continue  till  some  better  form 
of  diplomacy  is  developed  in  the  world  that  has  thus 
far  shown  itself.  But  I  also  found,  not  only  in  indi¬ 
viduals,  but  in  groups,  the  finest  expressions  of  the 
principle  of  world  brotherhood  to  which  I  ever  listened. 
The  European,  American,  and  Japanese  language  about 
international  friendships  is  pretty  strongly  tinctured 
with  economics.  I  have  seen  some  Americans  suddenly 
become  peace  advocates  who  have  never  been  famous 


56  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

for  philanthropy  or  religion.  En  route  West  I  met 
one  such  who  when  I  inquired  about  the  influences 
prompting  his  new  attitude  very  quickly  revealed  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  human  idealism  or  spiritual  results, 
but  horror  at  the  size  of  his  “income  tax.”  Reduced 
incomes  have  made  a  good  many  converts  to  the  ex¬ 
tinction  of  war  idea.  Some  nations  are  discussing 
world  peace  as  a  remedy  for  national  bankruptcy.  I 
venture  the  suggestion  that  this  basis  will  not  produce 
enduring  peace.  Some  day  the  balance  of  money 
advantage  might  seem  to  be  the  other  way  and  then  that 
platform  would  lead  to  war.  That  was  Germany’s 
blind,  brutal,  sordid  blunder  in  1914. 

I  spoke  to  churches,  clubs,  schools,  colleges  in  the 
greater  cities  of  China.  I  met  great  personalities  in 
public,  business,  educational,  and  private  life,  and  felt 
that  I  had  not  at  any  time  heard  the  desire  for  universal 
good  will  among  men  put  upon  a  higher  basis  than  by 
the  Chinese.  I  found  myself  quite  unconsciously  shift¬ 
ing  the  emphasis  in  addresses  to  those  most  religious  as¬ 
pects  of  the  friendship  topic.  There  are  places  where  the 
economic  phase,  with  its  consequent  burden  of  taxation, 
business  depression,  and  loss  of  efficiency,  seems  the 
most  binding  argument  against  armed  conflicts.  But 
this  is  not  the  supreme  apologetic  in  China.  These 
audiences  softened  into  cordial  friendliness  and  lost 
that  frigid  resentment  under  the  pressure  of  facts 
about  war  being  an  enemy  of  brotherhood,  of  human 
welfare,  of  childhood  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
I  was  only  sorry  at  the  close  of  about  sixty  addresses 
delivered  in  China  that  I  had  not  been  more  conscious 
of  this  psychology  at  the  beginning.  I  could  have  gone 
very  much  more  directly  to  the  heart  of  the  subject 


CHINA 


57 


and  been  much  more  effective.  Before  one  perfectly 
splendid  audience  of  Chinese  church  leaders,  where 
there  was  present  a  large  number  of  beautiful  women, 
for  the  most  part  of  mature  years,  I  made  use  of  a 
large  clause  upon  war's  toll  upon  motherhood,  and  in 
the  name  of  the  women  who  bear  in  pain  the  young 
men  who  are  sent  to  be  butchered,  I  spoke  against  more 
war.  I  could  wish  that  all  the  war-crazed  politicians 
and  dirty  yellow  journalists  who  are  trying  to  provoke 
more  hatred  and  jealousies  and  strife  among  the  nations 
could  have  witnessed  the  sight  and  felt  the  emotions 
in  that  room.  Stern  men  and  women  made  no  attempt 
to  restrain  tears.  One  Chinese  minister  with  degrees 
from  half  a  dozen  universities,  said  to  me  at  the  close, 
“If  that  side  of  this  war  business  is  carried  through 
China  it  will  kill  the  military  party  dead  in  five  years.” 

When  some  day  a  generation  arises  who  by  the  grace 
of  God  make  “wars  to  cease,”  I  believe  a  high  tribute 
will  then  be  paid  to  the  influence  of  the  Chinese  upon 
this  consummation  so  much  to  be  desired.  I  still  hope 
that  the  generation  of  which  I  am  one  of  the  older 
group,  may  yet  have  sense  enough  to  let  this  nation 
express  its  better  life  rather  than  to  drive  it,  against  its 
deepest  will,  to  follow  the  train  into  more  brutality. 

China  presents  a  queer  contradiction.  Admit  every 
frailty  of  her  past,  every  sin  of  which  she  is  accused, 
every  omission  which  can  be  thought  of,  and  here  re¬ 
mains  the  fact. 

One  channel  of  thought  followed  says:  “War,  get 
ready,,  organize,  arouse  the  people  to  revenge,  fight,  or 
succumb  to  inevitable  national  oblivion  and  eternal 
servitude.”  Another  channel  followed  says:  “We 
long  for  peace  on  earth,  we  hunger  for  good  will  and 


58  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

kindness,  our  ambitions  are  for  a  renaissance  of  the 
nobler  qualities  of  human  life.”  The  whole  Christian  v 
clientele  in  China,  native  pastors  and  church  members, 
college  and  school  faculties  and  foreign  missionaries, 
are  yearning  for  this  side  of  Chinese  life  to  be  given 
a  wide  privilege.  The  great  big  world  with  its  tangle 
of  European  geography,  its  reparation  funds,  its  open 
seaport  privileges,  its  Yap  Islands,  its  social  rumblings 
and  all  the  rest,  has  no  weightier  problem  before  it  than 
to  answer  which  one  of  these  voices  in  China  shall  pre¬ 
vail. 

No  nation  liveth  to  itself  alone  anywhere  just  now, 
and  never  will  again,  but  this  is  preeminently  true  of 
China.  She  cannot  of  herself  ordain  which  element  will 
prevail,  but  the  courts  and  conferences  of  nations  can. 

If  she  is  led  to  believe  that  she  will  be  treated  justly  in 
the  future,  she  will  be  in  the  vanguard  of  the  peace- 
loving  people.  If  she  is  forced  to  believe  she  is  to  be 
traded  and  juggled  as  a  sop  among  the  bargaining 
nations,  she  is  going  to  give  the  world  another  baptism 
of  the  blood  of  swords  and  guns.  The  date  is  the  only 
unknown  quantity  in  the  latter. 


CHINA 


Part  Two:  The  Land  of  Vast  ness 

IN  the  previous  chapter  a  serious  effort  was  made 
fully  to  recognize  the  danger  and  tragedy  of 
exasperating  China  into  a  military  effort  to  pre¬ 
serve  her  life  and  also  to  make  vivid  the  significance 
of  the  deep  natural  love  of  China  for  peace  and  a  desire 
to  move  out  into  a  better  life  free  from  resort  to  the 
dog’s  method  of  fighting. 

Wherever  there  are  those  whose  material  greed  and 
lust  for  conquest  have  led  a  desire  to  see  China  remain 
impotent,  that  they  may  pursue  the  exploiting  method 
undisturbed,  no  argument  will  avail  which  may  enlist 
cooperation  from  them,  looking  to  a  better  day  in 
China.  But  I  am  one  of  those  who  cherishes  a  real 
belief  in  the  world-extended  power  of  that  new  cult  of 
liberal-minded,  God-fearing  men  and  women  who  are 
putting  justice  above  gain  and  brotherhood  above  in¬ 
sane  nationalism.  It  is  important  that  all  of  these  shall 
be  brought  into  sympathy  with  the  vastness  of  thin’gs 
if  China  is  to  be  helped  to  become  a  potent  force  in 
the  universal  international  friendship  doctrine.  I  am 
persuaded  that  these  furious  widths  and  depths  and 
heights  of  things  in  China  must  be  reckoned  with  and 
patiently  dealt  with  by  all  who  work  and  pray  for  the 

59 


6o  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


good  of  the  human  race  and  the  peace  of  the  world. 
As  only  a  casual  visitor,  I  ought  perhaps  to  offer 
apology  for  the  attempt  even  to  summarize  some  of 
these  problems  in  this  nation  of  five  thousand  years  of 
history.  I  am  reminded  of  an  interview  once  with  a 
wise  old  physician  of  superb  medical  training  and  ex¬ 
perience  who,  when  I  asked  him  to  explain  the  genesis 
of  inflammatory  rheumatism  and  inquired  whether  it 
was  a  disease  of  the  blood,  internal  in  actual  location, 
or  muscular  as  being  from  without,  paused,  thought, 
and  then  rather  sadly  said,  “Oh,  I  really  do  not  know; 
I  could  have  told  you  forty  years  ago.”  I  am  quite 
aware  that  I  will  attempt  some  comments  which  great 
men  who  have  been  in  China  forty  years  would  fear  to 
undertake.  But  I  have  grown  so  tired  and  weary  of 
swift  tourists,  met  in  travel,  saying,  “Why  don’t  they 
do  this?”  “Why  do  they  do  that?” — people  who  pre¬ 
tend,  at  least,  to  feel  astonished  not  to  find  order  and 
procedure  there,  like  New  York,  London,  or  Paris, 
and  are  therefore  ready  to  wipe  the  whole  of  China  off 
the  map  as  being  no  good  now  and  with  no  prospects 
in  the  future !  I  am  sure  the  workers  for  world  con¬ 
cord  in  which  China  is  to  be  a  part  must  take  into 
account  some  of  these  issues  which  are  almost  beyond 
the  imagination. 

First,  China  is  vast  in  area,  population,  and  inac¬ 
cessibility.  She  has  about  six  thousand  miles  of 
northern  border  line  and  almost  the  same  from  farthest 
north  to  farthest  southern  boundary.  Her  borders 
bring  her  into  contact  with  every  kind  of  “ism”  in 
government  and  religion  that  the  Far  and  Near  East 
can  supply,  and  most  of  it  of  a  nature  to  degrade 
her  people  rather  than  lift  them  up.  She  has  about 


CHINA 


61 


the  same  number  of  square  miles  as  all  North  America 
and  four  hundred  million  people  with  no  common 
binder — no  common  sympathy,  no  common  patriotism 
or  religion.  I  was  told  that  my  first  address  de¬ 
livered  in  Japan  was  liberally  reported  in  the  daily 
papers  throughout  the  entire  nation  the  next  morning, 
a  picture  of  Japanese  compactness.  Even  if  the 
quickest  methods  were  used  and  there  were  papers  in 
the  farthest  points  in  China  it  would  take  three  or  four 
months  to  convey  the  message.  In  the  United  States 
nearly  every  man  in  Seattle  has  at  least  talked  to  some¬ 
body  from  Florida,  if  indeed  he  has  not  been  there 
himself.  Not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  in  South  China 
has  ever  heard  of  North  China,  much  less  has  heard 
anybody  tell  him  about  it.  Peking  and  Canton  are  in 
reality  farther  apart  than  Peking  and  New  York  City, 
and  these  are  great  modern  cities  upon  the  highways  of 
travel.  There  is  no  railway  from  North  to  South,  no 
direct  line  of  telegraph.  The  great  interior  west  is  an 
unexplored  vastness  where  the  swiftest  transportation 
is  the  sedan  chair  upon  a  coolie’s  back  and  where  the 
printing  press  and  the  telegraph  have  not  yet  found 
their  way.  The  hurried  man  from  the  West  who  ex¬ 
pects  China  to  express  herself  in  national  terms  quickly 
must  first  pause  in  the  presence  of  this  vastness  in 
distance  and  method  of  communication. 

In  the  second  place ,  China  is  vast  in  resources  of 
possible  wealth  and  a  contradictory  poverty. 

I  chanced  to  be  in  Peking  just  when  some  new  sta¬ 
tistics  were  being  assembled  upon  the  resources  of  the 
nation,  and  was  furnished  the  latest  through  the  office 
of  the  High  Industrial  Commissioner,  the  Hon.  E.  L. 
Hsieh.  They  have  forty-five  thousand  million  tons  of 


62  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


coal  (45,000,000,000,000).  I  have  written  this  figure 
out,  for  my  mathematics  does  not  tell  me  for  certain 
how  many  ciphers  ought  to  be  used.  I  was  told  that 
Shensi  Province  alone  can  furnish  all  the  coal  now 
being  used  in  the  world  for  the  next  one  hundred  years 
at  twenty-five  cents  a  ton,  based  upon  the  present  scale 
of  wages.  She  has  one  hundred  million  tons  of  iron 
ore  stored  away  in  the  mountains.  She  produced  in 
1920  1,049,191,000  bushels  of  corn,  148,659,000 
bushels  of  millet,  120,034,000  bushels  of  wheat, 
23, 777, ooo  bushels  of  barley.  I  could  not  get  late 
figures  upon  beans  (an  immense  asset),  silk,  ivory, 
silver,  vegetables,  and  so  on.  China  is  not  excelled  in 
the  world  in  her  riches  of  acres  of  minerals,  and  behind 
these  possibilities  there  is  an  abundance  of  labor  that 
is  dependable.  I  was  glad  to  find  that  Chinese  labor 
had  reached  the  hour  of  “organization”  and  “strikes.” 
Reference  will  be  made  later  to  this  significant  develop¬ 
ment.  But  the  fact  is,  that  the  supply  of  good  ready 
labor,  born  of  the  soil,  and  desperately  in  love  with  it, 
is  as  vast  as  the  work  which  needs  to  be  done  to  realize 
upon  the  wealth.  As  I  rode  days  across  those  great 
stretches  through  Manchuria  to  Peking  and  on  south 
I  was  reminded  of  Minnesota,  the  Dakotas,  Montana 
and  the  northwest  of  my  own  country.  As  far  as  the 
eye  could  carry,  rice,  corn,  wheat,  barley,  millet  and 
bean  fields.  China  has  wealth  that  is  simply  staggering 
in  possibilities. 

Now  the  confession :  She  has  poverty  that  no  de¬ 
scription  can  portray,  the  people  living  in  mud  and 
mat  houses  unfit  for  humans.  Drought  and  floods 
have,  incidentally,  periodically  accounted  for  some  of 
this,  but  only  feebly  tell  the  real  reason.  Their  poverty 


CHINA 


63 

has  been  so  long,  so  constant,  so  severe,  that  they  have 
settled  down  to  accept  it  without  much  grumbling,  hav¬ 
ing  millions  hungry  all  the  time.  I  am  told  this  ex¬ 
plains  in  part,  at  least,  their  custom  of  hanging  food, 
such  as  fruits,  nuts,  and  vegetables,  by  the  new-made 
graves,  suggesting  that  hope  that  at  least  those  passing 
through  the  great  adventure  may  find  a  haven  with 
food  enough.  The  figure  by  Ernest  Poole,  “Beggars 
sitting  on  bags  of  gold  ”  came  to  my  mind  every  day 
I  was  in  China. 

The  soil  has  produced  for  centuries  a  great  yield  and 
is  rich  now.  The  mountains  are  jammed  with  wealth. 
The  labor  is  faithful  and  abundant.  Then  what  is  the 
matter?  I  think  I  asked  a  hundred  men  where  that 
wealth  had  gone  to,  and  nobody  could  answer  except 
by  a  subdued  insinuation,  “The  people  have  been  per¬ 
sistently  robbed  by  somebody.”  I  believe  this  is  the 
fact.  Who  the  robbers  have  been  may  not  be  certified. 
But  the  crime  has  been  committed.  No  buildings  of 
ancient  glory,  no  remnants  of  a  once  great  wealth  can 
be  seen.  The  people  of  China  have  been  robbed  and 
left  as  destitute  as  the  poor  man  on  the  Jericho  road. 

Some  day  this  will  stop  and  this  wealth  be  turned 
into  channels  of  progress,  and  then  China  will  speak 
with  a  new  voice  among  the  nations  when  they  sit 
around  conference  tables. 

In  the  third  place  China  is  vast  in  internal  troubles. 
Those  busy  people  who  are  now  engaged  in  readjusting 
the  world  will  fail  utterly  in  a  solution  which  means 
permanent  world  concord  unless  they  are  wise  enough 
to  take  account  of  the  inside  vexations  of  China  and 
render  verdicts  upon  a  theory  of  justice  different  from 
that  which  is  demanded  of  those  nations  free  from  such 


64  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

furious  home  upheavals.  This  theory  of  justice  must 
remember  that  here  is  a  nation  of  so  many  millions  of 
people  that  nobody  pretends  to  give  a  close  figure  upon 
the  population,  which,  after  three  thousand  years 
of  the  rule  of  “dynasties”  and  emperors  of  iron  will, 
has  suddenly  thrown  over  the  whole  regime,  kit  and 
bag,  and  is  setting  up  a  republic.  More  patience  would 
have  been  vouchsafed  to  them  had  this  marvelous  revo¬ 
lution  occurred  without  a  great  world  wTar  being  thrust 
into  the  scene,  with  tasks  of  world  reconstruction  which 
have  tested  the  best  strength  and  genius  of  the  most 
perfectly  organized  nations.  China  has  been  called 
upon  to  battle  with  foes  within  and  foes  without  at  the 
same  time.  A  little  remembrance  of  history  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  other  nations  passing  through  similar 
transitions  have  not  had  smooth  sailing  for  a  good 
many  years.  The  American  and  French  revolutions 
are  apt  illustrations.  Unhappy  as  the  present  hour  is 
with  them,  they  have  done  enough  sight  better  than 
Russia  up  to  date.  In  justice  we  must  also  acknowledge 
the  fact  that  just  now  nobody  seems  to  know  where  the 
government  of  China  really  is.  In  Peking  they  act  as 
though  it  was  there,  but  nobody  five  hundred  miles 
away  thinks  so.  There  is  a  total  army  of  1,500,000  in 
uniform  and  more  or  less  (mostly  less)  equipped,  but 
the  Peking  authorities  cannot  control  more  than  8,000 
of  these.  The  Peking  group  can’t  collect  a  dollar  of 
taxes  outside  that  immediate  province,  except  a  small 
export  and  import  item.  The  outside  world  talks  of 
the  “North”  and  the  “South,”  but  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
there  are  at  least  five  separate  autonomous  governments 
which  pay  no  tribute  or  respect  to  Peking.  Some  day, 
somewhere,  somehow,  they  will  get  together  and  a 


CHINA 


65 

central  authority  will  come  forth.  Till  that  time  they 
are  pitifully  impotent  in  national  expression  and  cannot 
take  that  place  of  power  in  the  counsels  of  the  nations 
which  their  population  and  wealth  would  seem  to  accord 

them. 

In  the  fourth  place ,  China  is  vast  in  courage.  As  I 
went  day  after  day  discovering  new  ‘‘problems/’  most 
of  them  so  tremendous  that  any  one  of  fifty  would  seem 
to  be  enough  to  wipe  out  hope,  and  no  tangible  solution 
being  offered  by  anybody  for  them,  and  to  the  question 
I  advanced  till  I  grew  ashamed  of  it  myself,  “What  are 
you  going  to  do  about  it?”  being  given  the  quiet  answer, 
“We  don’t  know,”  I  marveled  that  there  was  a  spark 
of  courage  left  in  the  heart  of  any  thinking  Chinaman. 
But  there  is,  and  of  a  wonderful  type.  Here  is  a 
nation  of  resources  indicated,  yet  treated  as  a  child. 
One  of  the  strongest  men  of  the  new  Cabinet  [this  is 
written  in  February,  1922;  there  may  be  another 
government  by  April]  said  to  me:  “We  seem  to  be 
the  curios  for  the  other  nations  to  buy  and  sell.”  Look¬ 
ing  out  of  my  window  in  Peking  I  could  see  the  flags 
of  the  nations  wavering  over  the  Legations,  which  are 
more  than  the  name  implies,  for  they  are  backed  by 
their  soldiers,  on  the  ground,  ready  to  compel  obedience 
to  their  proposals.  Japanese  influence  is  very  evident 
through  the  north  country.  In  Shanghai,  the  “Inter¬ 
national  City,”  is  there,  not  as  guest  but  ever  present, 
dominating  the  whole  place.  To  the  south,  Hongkong 
and  the  British;  still  farther  south,  the  French  and  the 
Dutch.  “Spheres  of  influence,”  denoting  the  powerful 
presence  of  the  foreigners,  are  so  much  in  evidence 
that  the  Chinese  very  naturally  wonder  whether  they 
really  have  anything  to  say  about  their  own  country  or 


66  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


not.  While  in  Peking,  in  a  most  delightful  interview 
with  the  American  minister,  Dr.  Schurman,  he  told  me 
that  that  day  the  Chinese  authorities  had  asked  him  to 
request  his  government  to  “ permit  them ”  to  increase 
import  duties  from  three  to  five  per  cent.,  and  that  the 
same  request  was  being  made  of  other  major  powers. 
Imagination  fails  to  suggest  what  would  happen  if  such 
a  proposition  were  made  at  Washington,  or  London, 
or  Paris,  or  Tokyo,  when  those  governments  were  dis¬ 
cussing  tariffs.  But  that  is  a  picture  of  China.  She 
must  ask  outsiders  for  permission  to  establish  her  own 
rates  of  income. 

Small  wonder  if  they  are  beginning  to  say  they  must 
fight.  I  have  spoken  of  their  wealth,  but  I  did  not  see 
one  spot  where  those  riches  gave  promise  of  becoming 
available  but  that  some  white  man  or  a  Japanese  was 
sitting  on  watch,  to  grab  it  upon  some  pretense  or  other. 
The  whole  process  is  so  humiliating  that  it  would  seem 
as  though  they  would  give  up  in  disgust  and  despair. 
But  they  don’t,  and  their  calm  courage  in  adversity,  in 
darkness,  in  confusion  is  great  and  ought  to  challenge 
the  admiration,  sympathy,  and  cooperation  of  all  the 
fair-minded  people  of  the  world.  All  the  world  ap¬ 
plauded  Belgium  in  1914  when  the  German  hosts 
started  their  invasion  and  she  resisted  with  her  small 
army.  “Wonderful  courage,”  was  the  verdict.  France 
stood  the  hammering  of  that  same  powerful  army  in 
1916  around  Verdun  and  sang  all  the  while,  “They 
shall  not  pass.”  Again  everybody  shouted  about  their 
“courage.”  In  March,  1918,  on  the  west,  came  that 
baptism  of  blood  and  death  to  the  British.  But  the 
bulldog  grit  won  universal  praise.  “Great  courage.” 
Others  won  such  plaudits  also  on  those  fields.  But  I 


CHINA 


67 

firmly  believe  that  if  all  those  experiences  are  pressed 
into  one  the  sum  of  the  courage  necessary  would  not  be 
so  great  as  that  I  came  in  contact  with  in  China.  From 
public  officials  to  merchants,  to  college  professors,  to 
manufacturers,  to  mechanics,  to  bankers,  and  all  the 
way  to  the  coolie,  with  his  back  pretty  nearly  breaking 
under  his  load,  every  man  in  China  is  sure  they  are 
going  to  win  out.  Of  all  the  courage  I  have  met  or 
read  about  in  books,  the  most  sublime  is  that  I  found 
in  China.  The  rest  of  the  world  does  not  know  how 
properly  to  appreciate  real  sportsmanship  if  it  fails  to 
give  them  an  honest,  square  opportunity  in  the  future. 

The  truth  in  a  nutshell.  I  am  not  going  to  hazard 
any  fixed  opinion  of  what  the  final  destiny  of  China  is 
to  be.  The  nation  may  utterly  collapse  with  internal 
dissensions.  The  economic  weight  may  completely 
bankrupt  her.  The  greed  of  other  nations  may  some 
day  devour  her.  A  lot  of  things  may  happen,  but  as  a 
world  peace  asset  the  vital  thing  is  for  a  just  appraise¬ 
ment  to  be  made.  One  man  sees  China  in  poverty,  in 
ignorance,  in  dirt,  in  dissensions,  in  weakness,  in  im¬ 
morality.  He  can  make  his  case  with  the  barroom 
crowd  of  almost  any  Far  Eastern  hotel.  I  heard  one, 
en  route  by  train  from  Canton  to  Hongkong,  say  he  had 
traveled  all  over  China  and  had  never  seen  a  Christian. 
Another  man  looks  in  a  different  direction  and  he  sees 
China  awakening  and  rising  to  power.  The  real  test 
is  leadership.  Has  she  leaders  who  can  find  the  way? 
I  was  never  surer  of  anything  than  that  this  question 
can  be  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  that  these  new 
great  Chinese  personalities  will  solve  the  problem  if  the 
rest  of  the  world  will  keep  hands  off  and  give  them  a 
fair  chance.  I  met  university  and  college  presidents  of 


68  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


as  fine  a  grade  of  scholarship  and  administrative  ability 
as  are  known  anywhere  in  the  West.  Dr.  Chang  Po 
Ling,  of  Tientsin,  would  grace  any  university.  I  met 
church  leaders  of  vision,  courage,  and  personal  quali¬ 
ties  quite  as  significant  as  anything  I  have  come  in 
contact  with  in  thirty  years.  Rev.  Cheng  Ching  Yi, 
D.D.,  of  the  Chinese  Continuation  Committee,  Shang¬ 
hai,  is  not  surpassed  by  any  man  of  my  acquaintance  in 
this  regard.  I  met  student  leaders  that  are  not  second 
to  any  I  have  known  in  the  West.  Mr.  T.  Z.  Koo,  of 
the  Student  Department  of  the  Young  Men’s  Chris¬ 
tian  Association,  reminded  me  of  a  John  R.  Mott  or 
Robert  E.  Speer  in  the  making.  I  met  manufacturers 
who  are  the  last  word  in  up-to-dateness.  The  great 
Dr.  C.  T.  Wang,  scholar,  religious  leader,  politician,  is 
also  the  managing  director  of  as  fine  a  cotton  mill  as  I 
ever  saw — three  thousand  people  at  work,  mill  running 
day  and  night,  at  Woosung.  I  met  bankers,  lawyers, 
doctors  of  a  number  one  grade.  I  met  student  groups 
that  would  not  be  ashamed  in  the  presence  of  Harvard, 
Yale,  Cambridge,  or  Oxford  men.  I  saw  girls’  schools 
which  reminded  me  of  Vassar,  Mt.  Holyoke,  and 
Smith.  The  leaders  are  in  China  and  more  are  rapidly 
being  produced.  I  found  any  number  of  self-support¬ 
ing  churches,  big,  strong  congregations.  Perhaps  no 
one  item  impressed  me  so  much  in  contrast  with  the 
memories  of  an  earlier  visit  in  1913  as  did  this  one.  I 
was  shown  through  a  beautiful  library  building  at  St. 
John’s  College,  Shanghai,  which  had  just  been  opened, 
all  paid  for  and  every  dollar  given  by  the  alumni.  I 
arrived  in  Hongkong  just  after  the  Morrison  Memorial 
Church,  which  has  never  had  a  cent  of  outside  help,  had 
voted  $90,000  to  build  a  new  church  and  at  the  same 


CHINA  69 

meeting  voted  $1,000  each  to  two  new  churches  just 
starting  to  build. 

The  same  week  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  had  voted  to  build  another 
building  to  cost  $100,000,  all  of  which  they  will  raise 
themselves.  These  illustrations  can  be  multiplied  in¬ 
definitely.  They  prove  leadership.  If  China  is  treated 
fairly,  if  the  people  who  believe  in  world  peace  will 
help  her  in  the  period  of  transition,  she  will  be  a  power¬ 
ful  factor  in  establishing  the  better  order  of  brother¬ 
hood  in  the  world.  If  she  is  treated  unfairly  and  beaten 
back  in  her  struggle,  the  sense  of  injustice  will  linger 
and  some  day  break  out  in  war.  China  has  great  possi¬ 
bilities  for  peace  among  men,  or  more  war,  and  the 
decision  is  more  in  the  hands  of  foreigners  than  the 
case  of  any  other  people  on  earth. 


CHAPTER  VII 


SINGAPORE 

The  Home  of  Mixed  Races  and  Ideas 

IF  the  earlier  chapter  upon  Honolulu  had  not  been 
written  till  after  the  visit  to  Singapore  of  the 
Malayan  country,  some  few  sentences  might  have 
been  modified,  for  there  are  several  elements  in  which 
Singapore  can  easily  compete  with  Honolulu,  and  in 
some  of  these  claim  superiority.  It  is  a  very  interesting 
thing  to  observe  that  all  tourists  we  met  in  Singapore 
at  once  asked,  “Have  you  visited  Honolulu?”  “Which 
one  do  you  like  better?”  We  were  asked  exactly  these 
questions  by  three  Americans  within  twenty-four  hours 
after  arrival. 

I  was  not  in  Singapore  as  an  expert  as  to  which  one 
of  these  unique  tropical  cities  may  claim  preeminence 
of  climate,  foliage,  or  scenery  and  will  not  now  enter 
a  discussion  upon  this  point,  but  will  try  to  convey  the 
facts  which  grew  upon  me  every  hour  of  the  ten  days 
spent  there,  bearing  upon  Singapore  as  one  of  the  cen¬ 
ters  which  may  eventually  bind  the  Christian  world 
together  in  a  peace  compact  strong  enough  to  make 
wars  a  thing  of  the  past.  I  may  say  at  the  outset  that 
I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  this  Malayan  peninsula 
is  vital  to  the  universal  peace  program  and  that  there 

70 


SINGAPORE 


7 1 

are  strategic  possibilities  there  which  ought  to  be  culti¬ 
vated  earnestly  in  this  respect. 

Something  has  happened  here  in  this  remote  strip 
of  country,  the  farthest  tip  south  where  Asia  reaches, 
which  ought  to  be  studied,  not  only  for  its  value  imme¬ 
diately  as  a  brotherhood  area,  but  as  well  for  its  lessons 
to  other  territories  where  complicated  populations  are 
threatening  the  peace  of  the  world.  To  get  an  estimate 
of  these  facts,  it  is  necessary  to  dig  back  about  one 
hundred  and  five  years  in  Malayan  history. 

Then  this  was  one  of  the  wildest  spots  on  earth,  if 
the  historians  are  correct.  “The  wild  man  of  Borneo” 
had  nothing  on  the  wild  pirates  of  Malaya.  The  whole 
country  was  a  savage,  heathen  jungle  of  robbers  and 
murderers.  If  “Captain  Kid”  and  “Jesse  James”  and 
“Gyp  the  Blood”  had  been  here  in  their  “best”  days 
they  couldn’t  have  taught  these  natives  anything  in  the 
game  of  robbery  and  slaughter.  They  have  a  sort  of 
an  all-round  comprehensive  word  in  the  native  tongue, 
“Mengamok,”  which  describes  what  happened  in  those 
days  only  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  It 
means  a  kind  of  wholesale  killing,  a  festival  of 
slaughter,  a  fourth  of  July  of  blood  shedding.  It  was 
when  the  savage  gave  himself  to  unrestrained  murder 
and  fought  and  fought  till  everybody  in  reach  was 
killed  or  he  himself  was  dead — a  regular  carnival  of 
human  slaughter,  to  which  they  looked  forward  with 
the  pleasure  which  the  young  boy  now  has  in  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  Christmas.  These  straits,  the  only  highway  for 
commerce  East  and  West,  were  impassable.  Unnum¬ 
bered  ships  which  drew  too  near  were  never  heard  of 
again.  It  is  recorded  that  back  somewhere  in  the 
1 700s  the  Rajah  of  Johore  offered  to  give  the  whole 


72  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

thing  to  an  English  Captain  Hamilton,  who  declined 
the  present  with  thanks.  This  was  the  Malayan  Straits 
Settlements  in  1800. 

Soon  after  that  a  young  Britisher,  Stamford  Raffles, 
afterward  knighted,  appeared.  This  was  not  the  first 
or  last  time  that  things  have  happened,  when  some 
Britisher  appears  on  the  scene.  More  direct  reference 
will  be  made  to  this  later,  but  as  an  understanding  of 
the  influence  of  this  spot  of  earth  and  water  now,  a 
few  things  need  to  be  noted.  Sir  Stamford  Raffles 
bought  it  and  paid  for  it  with  good  English  money  and 
hoisted  the  Union  Jack.  He  was  a  God-fearing 
Christian  man,  he  read  only  the  Bible  and  religious 
books  upon  Sunday.  He  had  the  Roger  Williams  idea 
of  justice  to  the  natives.  He  treated  them  honestly 
and  kindly.  He  had  visions  of  the  future,  he  is  spoken 
of  yet  as  the  man  of  “long,  long  thoughts.”  He  was 
appointed  the  first  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Colony. 
Singapore  and  the  Straits  Settlements  are,  to  an  im¬ 
mense  degree,  just  a  story  of  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  and 
what  he  planted  there.  There  is  a  “Raffles  Square,” 
the  business  district;  a  “Raffles  School,”  a  “Raffles 
Library,”  a  “Raffles  Museum,”  and  a  “Raffles  Monu¬ 
ment.”  One  hundred  years  and  this  seed  has  produced 
what  I  saw  there  in  1922 :  A  beautiful  city  of  gardens, 
lovely  homes,  wide  boulevards,  prosperous  banks  and 
business  houses,  churches,  missions,  schools,  libraries, 
a  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  the  finest  kept 
one  I  was  ever  in,  and  a  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Association.  The  city  proper  is  modern  to  a  degree 
which  would  seem  impossible  in  that  spot  only  seventy 
miles  from  the  Equator.  The  country  is  rich,  first,  in 
rubber  plantations.  Two  thirds  of  the  whole  world 


SINGAPORE 


73 


supply  comes  from  these  islands.  Tin,  one  half  the 
world’s  supply,  comes  from  here.  Spices — it  would 
seem  as  though  they  are  growing  enough  pepper  to 
furnish  all  of  that  hot  ingredient  necessary  for  the 
universe.  Cocoanuts,  such  groves  as  I  have  never  seen 
before  anywhere.  Fruits  a  hundred  kinds,  oranges, 
pappai,  bananas,  mangoes,  mangosteen,  durian,  guavas, 
and  melons,  although  they  buy  peaches,  pears,  and 
prunes  from  the  United  States,  and  apples  and  grapes 
from  Australia.  The  harbor  was  a  constant  study 
to  me — ships  from  every  nation  on  earth  coming 
and  going.  The  annual  tonnage  of  the  port 
is  over  15,000,000  tons,  with  a  valuation  of  $811,000,- 
000. 

Out  of  the  heathen  jungle  in  a  century,  there  has 
emerged  this  beautiful  city  of  400,000  prosperous 
people,  the  pivot  of  an  area  of  wide  significance.  One 
could  only  wish  that  some  method  might  be  discovered 
by  which  Westminster  and  Washington  could  always 
be  led  to  send  out  representatives  of  the  Christian 
character  of  Sir  Stamford  Raffles ;  not  only  would  the 
benefit  in  trade  and  economic  profit  be  great,  but  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  the  world  would  be  set  forward 
by  advances  not  yet  known  and  some  of  the  fierce 
jealousies  and  suspicions  of  the  Western  white  man 
could  be  removed. 

The  peculiar  interest  in  all  this  to  me  was  not  the 
streets,  the  business  houses,  the  ships,  or  the  flower 
gardens,  but  the  fact  of  such  a  population  at  this  place 
at  this  time  when  the  world  is  in  anguish  for  a  peace 
plan  of  life  which  will  save  the  coming  generations 
from  the  butchery  war  has  been  imposing.  Singapore 
has  an  immense  opportunity  to  become  essential  in  this 


74  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

program,  and  I  am  afraid  has  not  yet  realized  this  fact. 
Since  leaving  San  Francisco  this  was  the  first  large 
city  visited  in  which  I  did  not  find  some  kind  of  inter¬ 
national  friendship  organization,  World  Alliance  group 
or  League  of  Nations  Union.  I  could  not  find  any¬ 
thing  of  the  kind  and  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that, 
while  they  were  glad  to  see  me,  they  were  in  fear  and 
trembling  about  what  I  was  going  to  say  and,  like  the 
chap  who  has  to  take  a  dose  of  bitter  medicine,  were 
wishing  the  thing  were  over  as  quickly  as  possible.  I 
was  astonished  at  some  of  the  questions  I  was  asked 
by  those  who  seemed  to  be  surprised  that  there  was 
any  peculiar  anxiety  about  the  war  issues.  But  after 
getting  past  this  rather  superficial  impression,  I  began 
to  catch  the  deep  facts. 

First,  Singapore  has  a  mixture  of  different  kinds  of 
color,  races,  types,  and  religions  not  equaled  in  this 
great  world.  I  am  absolutely  certain  of  this.  Refer¬ 
ence  has  been  made  to  some  places  having  this  dis¬ 
tinction  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  when  Singapore  is 
reached  no  exceptions  need  to  be  made.  Here  are 
found  first  in  number,  Chinese  from  both  North 
and  South,  Japanese,  Singhalese,  Siamese,  Javanese, 
Bornese,  Indians,  from  the  Sikhs  of  the  North  to  the 
Bengalis  and  on  to  the  Tamils  of  the  South,  Burmese, 
Sakeis,  the  original  natives,  Malayans,  Eurasians, 
Portuguese,  Americans,  Australians,  and  British 
Islanders.  I  thought  the  “Tower  of  Babel”  must  have 
fallen  near  Raffles  Square  as  I  stood  there  and  listened 
to  that  clatter  of  tongues  and  studied  those  tints  of 
complexions.  I  thought  I  knew  mixtures,  but  I  had 
to  see  the  conglomeration  when  I  got  into  Singapore  to 
get  a  little  faint  idea  of  how  many  kinds  of  folks  it 


SINGAPORE 


75 


takes  to  make  up  a  world.  I  do  not  think  there  is  a 
color  in  the  rainbow,  or  a  tint  of  the  sky  with  the  rising 
or  setting  sun,  or  a  blackness  of  a  moonless,  starless 
night,  which  is  not  represented  upon  somebody’s  skin  at 
Singapore.  Naturally  the  truly  great  men  are  just 
anxious  about  what  this  mixture  may  develop  and  have 
not  therefore  been  pressing  the  world  situation  to  the 
front  very  conspicuously.  But  the  conviction  is  none 
the  less  there  and  must  be  given  expression.  I  have 
spoken  of  the  population  of  Singapore  as  about 
400,000,  but  the  Malay  Peninsula  has  over  6,000,000 
— almost  equal  to  that  of  Canada  or  Australia — and  in 
those  adjacent  South  Sea  Islands  there  are  close  to 
50,000,000  people  and  Singapore  is  easily  the  dominat¬ 
ing  center,  and  will  be  the  leavening  peace  influence  of 
the  whole,  when  once  her  Christian  forces  become 
organized.  I  was  made  grateful  in  the  realization  of 
two  facts  before  leaving  there. 

In  the  first  place,  while  the  outspoken  international 
friendship  doctrine  from  the  viewpoint  of  organization 
has  not  been  as  active  as  in  some  places,  the  quality  of 
leadership  is  not  second  to  any  visited.  The  pastor  of 
the  English  Presbyterian  Church,  a  veritable  Scot,  Rev. 
Douglas,  and  the  principal  of  the  boys’  school,  Mr. 
Dixon,  are  as  intense  on  the  world  brotherhood  topic 
as  any  men  I  ever  met  on  land  or  sea.  Bishop  Bickley, 
of  the  American  Methodist  Church,  who  presided  at 
the  first  meeting,  is  equally  in  earnest  upon  it,  as  are 
all  his  associates  so  far  as  I  could  learn.  Not  at  any 
place  have  I  heard  a  truer  indictment  of  the  whole 
theory  of  war  than  from  Bishop  Ferguson,  of  the 
Church  of  England,  who  took  the  chair  at  the  second 
meeting.  He  left  no  loophole  for  a  militarist  phi- 


76  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

losophy  to  get  through.  Singapore  is  highly  equipped 
with  rich  personalities  for  this  great  ideal. 

In  the  second  place,  I  was  grateful  to  see  the  per¬ 
sistent  determination  to  make  permanent  in  organized 
form  the  sentiment  which  had  been  quickened  there.  I 
shall  remember  longest  the  last  meeting,  a  group  of 
twenty-four  men  representing  the  best  in  business, 
educational,  political,  and  religious  life  who  came  to¬ 
gether  to  consider  ways  and  means  of  going  forward. 
Among  them  was  Mr.  David  G.  Stead,  the  vice-presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Australian  League  of  Nations  Union,  who 
brought  a  tremendous  testimony  on  the  Australian 
peace  sentiment.  Not  a  doubt  was  expressed  in  that 
room  but  that  war  was  a  menace  to  all  the  good  of  life, 
and  they  voted  with  deep  earnestness  to  organize  a 
Singapore  League  of  Nations  Union  to  take  up  not 
only  the  issues  of  the  League  of  Nations,  but  the  whole 
question  of  extending  the  ideals  of  world  peace  and 
universal  brotherhood  throughout  these  South  Sea 
islands  with  their  vast  populations,  which  are  to  be 
developed  either  as  peaceful  citizens  of  the  future,  or 
as  warriors  to  wage  conflict  upon  each  other,  as  well 
as  eventually  to  measure  swords  with  the  white  men. 
Thus  here  in  the  glory  of  the  South  Seas,  amid  its 
mysterious  peoples  and  innumerable  problems,  beset 
with  such  possibilities  of  strife  and  revolution,  there  is 
a  group  of  some  of  God’s  choicest  personalities,  who 
have  set  themselves  to  meeting  their  part  in  setting  the 
world  free  from  the  voice  of  guns  and  swords  and 
filling  it  with  the  music  of  peace  and  good  will. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


INDIA 

The  Land  of  Turmoil 

F  all  the  countries  visited,  no  one  presents  such 
an  almost  impossible  condition  to  describe, 
from  the  viewpoint  of  probable  friendly  inter¬ 
nationalism,  as  India.  It  seems  on  the  surface  to  be 
just  one  vast  conglomeration  of  contradictions.  The 
so-called  “best  informed’ ’  men  differ  upon  many  points 
where  it  would  seem  as  though  there  would  be  common 
judgment.  Japan  and  China  present  some  confused 
ideas,  but  when  thought  of  in  contrast  with  India  they 
become  as  simple  as  the  twos  of  the  multiplication 
table.  India  is  a  nation  of  turmoil,  discontent,  unrest, 
agitation,  with  threatenings  of  immediate  revolution, 
rebellion,  war.  I  am  not  too  confident  of  some  of  the 
conclusions  reached ;  they  may  be  exploded  in  a  month, 
while  on  some  others  a  feeling  of  absolute  certainty 
is  entertained. 

For  all  of  them,  however,  I  am  more  indebted  to 
personal  interviews  and  conferences  with  small  groups 
than  has  been  the  case  with  any  other  of  the  nations 
to  which  I  have  referred.  I  sought  diligently  to  know 
the  mind  of  those  who  seemed  to  be  in  positions  which 
would  give  them  the  true  facts,  and  I  find  writing  now 
the  more  difficult  because  I  must  differ  radically  with 

77 


78  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

some  of  these,  among  whom  are  not  a  few  highly  es¬ 
teemed  friends  of  many  years.  Whatever  the  truth 
may  be  about  causes  or  remedies,  two  fundamental  facts 
are  to  be  clearly  recognized : 

First,  India,  with  its  325,000,000  people,  is  the 
world’s  storm  center  of  jealousies  and  fomented  dis¬ 
cord.  Europe  is  not  happy,  and  outbreaks  there  would 
be  no  surprise;  China  is  restless;  Japan  is  suspicious 
and  threatening;  America  is  far  from  tranquillity; 
South  Africa  is  in  the  throes  of  terrific  industrial  strife, 
and  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia  are  always  asking  for 
something.  But  India  surpasses  them  all  in  the  depth 
of  her  grievances  and  the  wide  barrier  between  what 
she  is  asking  and  what  is  proposed  to  be  granted. 

Second,  there  can  be  no  universal  peace,  friendship, 
and  brotherhood  till  some  remedy  is  found  which  will 
effectively  quiet  this  turmoil.  Delay  may  not  mean 
immediately  more  war  on  a  wide  scale,  but  it  does  mean 
an  unsettling  of  world  affairs,  so  long  as  it  continues 
in  its  present  state.  Humanity  needs  something  more 
than  the  order  to  “cease  firing”  which  was  given  upon 
November  11,  1918.  It  must  have  international  friend¬ 
ship  and  good  will,  brotherhood  and  cooperation.  His¬ 
tory  is  filled  with  proof  that  no  armed  force,  be  it  ever 
so  overwhelming,  can  coerce  peace  and  quietness.  The 
disturbance  in  India  is  a  world  problem,  and  the  whole 
human  race  is  more  or  less  involved.  The  British 
Government  may  for  the  moment  be  facing  the  brunt 
of  the  struggle,  but  eventually  it  will  involve  the  entire 
world. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  contradictions  of 
India.  They  are  after  this  fashion :  In  the  first  place, 
if  this  people  were  free  from  the  present  annoying  ele- 


INDIA 


79 


ments  and  were  left  to  live  out  that  which  they  so 
persistently  profess,  they  ought  to  be  the  leaders  of  all 
the  peace  movements  of  the  world.  No  suggestion  is 
to  be  made  as  to  the  wisdom  of  granting  what  is  asked 
by  their  agitations,  or  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  pro¬ 
fessions.  This  is  merely  a  statement  of  fact.  Their 
professions  would  give  them  the  supreme  seat  of  honor 
in  any  peace  conference  or  convention.  This  is  evi¬ 
denced  by  the  presence  of  225,000,000  Hindus  over¬ 
whelmingly  in  the  majority  in  the  country  whose  re¬ 
ligion  forbids  taking  life  for  any  cause.  Their  doctrine 
of  “reincarnation”  is  so  sweeping  that  the  very  lowest 
of  the  animals  become  sacred,  to  say  nothing  of  human 
beings.  Life  is  precious  in  their  sight  beyond  any  other 
race  that  ever  existed.  If  this  is  real  to  them,  as  I 
have  no  reason  to  doubt,  war  becomes  a  thing  of  per¬ 
fect  horror  to  the  Hindu,  and  he  ought  to  be  the  peace 
advocate  par-excellence.  One  of  the  first  Indians  with 
whom  I  talked,  a  saintly  old  Christian  minister  of  forty 
years’  experience,  said,  “You  are  now  in  the  land  of 
the  lovers  of  peace,  but  in  the  land  of  the  next  great 
war.” 

That  the  peace  idea  ought  to  manifest  itself  in 
India  in  a  more  than  ordinary  way,  is  witnessed  by 
the  tremendous  power  of  the  “non-resistent”  movement, 
which  has  swept  over  the  nation  like  a  miracle.  Leav¬ 
ing  aside  all  arguments  pro  and  con  about  the  sincerity 
of  this  method,  the  fact  is  that  it  has  worked  in  India, 
and  I  do  not  believe  any  other  people  on  earth  would 
have  responded  to  such  an  idea.  “If  you  are  arrested, 
do  not  resist;  if  you  are  attacked,  do  not  fight  back.” 
This  is  the  method  by  which  they  propose  to  change 
government  and  all  existing  methods  of  procedure 


8o  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


which  have  been  in  operation  for  two  hundred  years. 
Bishop  Frederick  B.  Fisher,  of  the  Methodist  Episco¬ 
pal  Church,  wrote  a  very  remarkable  book  some  years 
ago  about  India  under  the  title,  “The  Silent  Revolu- 
tion.,,  It  was  then  written  as  a  record  of  existing 
facts;  it  has  now  become  strangely  prophetic. 

France  back  yonder  in  history  had  a  revolution,  but 
nobody  talked  of  a  “non-resistant”  method.  America 
had  one  in  1776,  but  it  wasn’t  “bloodless.”  China  has 
had  a  few,  but  none  of  them  “silent.”  Japan  has  shared 
her  part,  but  never  by  “quiet”  ideas.  Russia  had  one 
recently,  but  “force”  was  the  implement.  India  alone 
would  listen  and  respond  to  such  a  way,  and  ought 
therefore  to  be  kind  of  a  peace  John  the  Baptist  to  the 
world  instead  of  the  probable  soil  of  more  blood¬ 
shed. 

There  may  be  added  what  those  who  have  lived 
long  in  the  country  comment  upon,  .viz. :  The  Indian  is 
by  nature  a  docile,  quiet,  peace-loving  type.  The 
northern  races  of  whom  this  is  not  true  are  a  decided 
minority.  A  day  in  Ireland  without  a  street  fight  would 
seem  unnatural ;  a  fight  of  that  kind  is  almost  unknown 
in  India.  When  terribly  wrought  up  they  sometimes 
push ,  but  they  do  not  fight.  Like  the  Quakers,  they 
can  fight  furiously  if  pressed  beyond  endurance,  but  it 
is  not  their  instinct.  They  have  much  in  common  with 
the  Chinese  in  this  respect.  Here,  then,  stand  these 
facts  which  if  unencumbered  would  give  them  one 
hundred  per  cent  as  peace  leaders.  But  the  cross¬ 
currents  are  so  vicious,  so  obvious,  so  obstinate  that 
these  virtues  are  submerged,  and  for  the  present,  at 
least,  of  small  influence.  The  other  side  of  the  con¬ 
tradiction  is  that  the  student  of  history  would  say  that 


INDIA  81 

there  are  three  or  four  causes  working  there  which  can 
result  only  in  war. 

The  Gandhi  non-violent  revolution,  if  persisted  in 
and  permitted  to  come  to  full  fruition,  means  armed 
conflict.  No  manner  of  resolutions  or  messages  sent 
out  can  change  the  eventual  method  either  of  Mahatma 
Gandhi’s  followers  in  prosecuting  their  campaign  or 
the  Government’s  method  of  suppressing  it.  He  and 
his  committee  of  the  Indian  Congress  are  advocating 
“civil  disobedience”  to  all  the  established  laws,  properly 
enacted,  of  the  land.  Police  force  only  can  compel 
obedience.  The  genuine  seriousness  of  this  is  under¬ 
stood  only  when  considered  in  the  light  of  what  they 
are  really  asking  for,  and  declaring  they  will  have. 
There  may  be  a  good  many  subdivisions  in  their  ranks, 
but  fundamentally  the  bottom  principle  is  “India  for 
the  Indians.”  This  interpreted,  means  the  exclusion  of 
the  white  man  except  as  a  casual  visitor  or  trader.  The 
Gandhi  doctrine  says  he  is  a  menace,  that  he  is  con¬ 
taminating  the  otherwise  pure  stream  of  native  life. 
The  British  Government  is  the  first  point  of  attack,  and 
they  want  it  to  leave,  bag  and  baggage.  Then  it  goes 
on  down  the  line,  until  the  government  officers,  the 
soldiers,  the  educators  and  missionaries  from  the  West 
are  cleaned  out  and  gone.  This  is  the  Gandhi  program 
when  fully  in  operation.  Behind  the  scenes  the 
strangest  thing  in  it  is  the  temporary  support  of 
70,000,000  Mohammedans.  They  are  giving  allegiance 
not  because  they  love  Gandhi  more,  or  because  they 
have  suddenly  ceased  to  love  the  sword,  their  faithful 
weapon  of  seventeen  hundred  years,  less,  but  because 
they  hate  the  Christian  Westerner  and  the  British 
Government  more  than  anything  else  just  now.  One 


82  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


prominent  Mohammedan  leader,  with  a  glare  in  his 
eye  and  his  clenched  hand  upraised,  said  to  me  in  com¬ 
ment  upon  their  support  of  the  non-resistant,  non¬ 
violent  movement,  “By  Allah,  we  will  some  day  get 
our  chance.”  He  left  no  lingering  doubt  in  my  mind 
of  what  he  thought  would  be  the  eventual  method.  One 
of  Mr.  Gandhi’s  closest  associates  told  me  they  had 
“no  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of  the  Mohammedan 
support.”  Thus  this  so-styled  peaceful  revolution  has 
in  it  perils  not  only  to  the  peace  of  India,  but  to  the 
peace  of  the  world. 

This  statement  would  not  be  true  to  its  real  purpose 
if  it  failed  to  record  that  most  men  met  in  India  believe 
in  the  sincerity  of  Mr.  Gandhi  and  credit  him  and  his 
associates  with  pure  motives.  Those  who  try  to  im¬ 
peach  his  character  or  impugn  his  noble  purposes  are 
probably  false  to  facts.  His  arrest,  his  trial,  and  his 
quiet  plea  “Guilty”  all  combine  to  give  weight  to  this 
fact.  He  attempted  no  dramatics,  no  attack  either  by 
act  or  spoken  word  upon  the  officers,  but  with  profound 
sincerity  accepted  the  penalty  as  a  part  of  a  great  move¬ 
ment  in  behalf  of  liberty.  But  whatever  may  be  the 
judgment  of  coming  generations  upon  this  marvelous 
phenomenon  of  the  Gandhi  wave  of  influence,  one  thing 
is  sure :  It  represents  in  this  hour  the  possibility  of  the 
outbreak  of  violence  and  the  answer  of  armed  force  not 
to  be  confined  to  India. 

As  though  this  were  not  enough  for  one  people  to 
carry,  there  must  be  noted  the  “Brahmin  vs.  non- 
Brahmin”  struggle  in  the  south.  The  common  people 
have  grown  weary  of  the  rule,  tyranny,  and  oppression 
of  the  lazy  Brahmin  priest.  He  has  for  centuries  held 
the  offices,  levied  and  collected  taxes,  reported  to  no- 


INDIA 


83 

body,  and  condemned  folks  at  will  to  perdition  or 
paradise.  The  end  has  come  to  this  order,  and  the 
Brahmin  is  suddenly  finding  himself  shunted  out  of 
power.  The  forces  are  being  marshaled,  and,  were  it 
not  for  other  more  spectacular  agitations,  this  one 
would  be  a  headliner  in  the  papers.  This  represents  a 
long  struggle  and  may  upset  all  India  before  it  is  over. 

Added  to  these  must  be  again  noted  the  Moham¬ 
medan  vs.  Hindu  vs  Buddhism  vs.  Christianity  prob¬ 
lem.  Comment  has  been  made  on  this  question,  but  it 
is  more  than  merely  Moslem  antipathy  to  Western 
government.  If  the  Gandhi  movement  should  succeed 
on  any  given  day  and  be  granted  every  demand,  a  ten 
times  worse  issue  would  appear  the  next  morning: 
The  Moslems  believe  they  are  called  of  God  to  rule 
Asia  and  Africa  quickly ,  that  they  may  thus  early  have 
all  energies  freed  to  meet  the  Western  satanic  powers. 
Hinduism  in  India  is  a  menace  to  this  ambition,  and 
their  thirst  is  keen  to  settle  supremacy  with  this  com¬ 
peting  religion.  Of  no  fact  am  I  more  convinced  than 
this — India  turned  over  to  the  Gandhi  cabinet  would 
be  India  in  religious  armed  struggle  or  surrendered  to 
the  Moslems.  No  peace  to  India  and  no  common  peace 
to  the  world  till  this  issue  is  solved. 

Again,  India  has  a  caste  warfare  to  be  settled  either 
by  arbitration,  which  involves  the  whole  revision  of 
Hinduism,  or  else  by  a  series  of  outbreaks  and  riots. 
For  ages  the  low  castes,  born  to  degradation,  have 
plodded  their  weary  way  without  a  protest.  There  are 
50,000,000  of  these  poor  starved  slaves,  so  low  they 
must  not  drink  from  the  wells  of  pure  water.  They 
are  the  “untouchables,”  worse  than  dogs.  But  some¬ 
thing  has  happened,  and  they  are  organizing  and  de- 


84  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

manding  a  chance.  While  we  were  in  India  they  held 
a  convention  in  the  north.  Thirty  thousand  delegates 
attended.  One  of  the  ruling  princes  (of  whom  India 
has  about  eight  hundred,  at  least  799  too  many)  ad¬ 
dressed  them  in  a  speech  of  congratulation  that  the 
time  had  come  when  they  were  asking  to  be  treated  as 
human  beings.  One  must  know  something  of  the 
depth  of  the  caste  system  to  realize  what  this  means. 
The  Brahmin  priests  would  prefer  war  any  day  to  this, 
for  “their  trade  is  in  danger.”  After  other  woes  are 
settled,  this  one  will  last  a  long  time.  It  may  be  carried 
to  success  without  violence,  but  it  certainly  has  possi¬ 
bilities  of  civil  armed  strife. 

These  are  not  all  the  causes  of  unrest.  The  industrial 
question  is  here,  of  which  a  later  word  will  be  said  in 
common  with  other  countries.  But  these  major  ones 
are  enough  to  command  the  deep  -sympathy  of  all  who 
long  for  the  better  human  life  of  friendliness  and 
cooperation  throughout  the  world,  and  prayer  for  those 
sincere  men  and  women,  foreign  and  native,  who  are 
trying  to  find  the  way  for  India. 

One  more  question  must  be  raised.  Is  India  worth 
the  struggle?  Attention  was  called  earlier  to  the  im¬ 
portance  of  India  as  a  world  problem.  I  am  aware 
that  to  a  certain  type  of  uninformed  person  this  may 
seem  absurd.  One  man  on  shipboard,  in  speaking  of 
the  unhappy  conditions  existing  there  at  the  present 
time,  said,  “The  white  man  may  as  well  leave  it  any¬ 
way,  for  it  is  a  good-for-nothing  country  with  no 
future.” 

In  contrast  with  this  superficial  view  I  was  amazed 
by  the  figures  given  me  at  various  times  by  different 
men  concerning  the  economic  possibilities  of  the  future. 


INDIA 


85 

Its  resources  are  an  unknown  quantity  even  yet  to  the 
best  engineers.  Agriculture,  which  has  been  almost  the 
entire  pursuit,  is  still  in  its  infancy.  Two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  million  acres  were  under  cultivation  in 
1920,  not  more  than  half  of  the  reasonably  arable  area 
being  worked;  but  cotton,  rice,  wheat,  corn,  jute,  sugar, 
and  tea  in  enormous  quantities  were  produced.  Now 
the  thrill  of  the  whole  nation  is  the  mineral  and  in¬ 
dustrial  revival.  In  1920  the  coal  output  was  22,660,- 
000  tons,  with  deposits  unknown  in  capacity.  One 
of  the  ablest  engineers  of  the  British  Government  told 
me  there  was  iron  ore  enough  in  the  Nagpur  district 
to  care  for  the  entire  steel  industry  east  of  the  Suez 
Canal.  The  oil  movement  is  just  getting  under  way, 
and  yet  in  one  year  306,000,000  gallons  were  put  on 
the  market.  Asbestos,  tin,  manganese,  gold,  and  silver 
in  vast  deposits  are  yet  to  be  brought  into  service.  Now 
the  slogan  is  “from  hand  to  the  machine.” 

To  my  surprise  I  was  told  emphatically  that  India 
is  not  overpopulated.  Her  poverty  is  largely  the  result 
of  living  on  the  land  and  buying  European  goods  at 
European  prices.  The  revival  of  industry  is  on.  Two 
hundred  and  sixty-three  cotton  mills  were  in  operation 
while  I  was  there,  operating  6,714,000  spindles  owned 
and  managed  for  the  most  part  by  Indians.  Woolen 
and  paper  mills  are  springing  up.  A  paper  mill  operator 
told  me  they  had  bamboo  and  other  fibrous  plants 
enough  growing  in  India  to  furnish  the  paper  for  the 
whole  world  when  they  get  the  mills  built,  and  proph¬ 
esied  that  India  would  change  the  paper  market  of  every 
nation  inside  of  twenty-five  years.  Even  the  brewery 
business  has  been  taught  them  by  the  Europeans.  One 
immense  new  building  was  pointed  out  to  me  as  the 


86  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


sixteenth  brewery  to  be  erected  within  a  few  years. 
It  seemed  to  me  a  pity  to  see  this  as  one  more  blot 
on  the  already  besmirched  record  of  the  Western  Chris¬ 
tian,  and  also  to  know  that  some  day  it  would  have 
to  be  rebuilt  for  a  decent  purpose;  for  the  rising 
temperance  sentiment  of  India  will  never  cease  till  the 
alcohol  job  is  finished. 

Therefore,  the  geography  makers,  the  Association 
of  Nations  or  League  of  Nations  builders,  the  World 
Court  administrators,  the  universal  peace  and  brother¬ 
hood  societies  must  all  reckon  with  and  cooperate  with 
great,  troubled  India.  These  rather  sobering  com¬ 
ments  would  be  incomplete  if  no  distinct  reference 
were  to  be  made  to  the  evidences  of  the  intense  senti¬ 
ment  among  great  numbers  for  a  campaign  in  behalf  of 
the  anti-war  theory.  At  first  I  was  told  by  some  that 
meetings  and  conferences  upon  this  theme  at  this  time 
would  probably  be  fruitless.  But  I  met  no  audience 
or  group  which  did  not  respond  with  zeal  to  the 
message.  One  of  Mr.  Gandhi’s  most  intimate  fol¬ 
lowers,  after  hearing  one  address,  called  upon  me  to 
say  that  he  was  confident  Mr.  Gandhi  would  be  glad 
to  have  such  a  message  delivered  in  every  town  and 
village  throughout  the  land.  A  British  government 
official,  himself  a  soldier,  was  most  cordial  and  per¬ 
sistent  in  urging  that  some  arrangement  be  made  by 
which  I  could  extend  the  time  of  my  visit  in  India  for 
a  widespread  campaign  in  behalf  of  the  hope  of  good 
will  among  men.  Another  man  in  an  important  official 
position,  in  pressing  the  same  request,  said :  “This  is 
the  very  thing  we  need.  All  of  us  here,  Indians  and 
Europeans,  must  be  lifted  out  of  our  prejudices  to  see 
the  larger  world’s  issues  and  to  be  made  conscious  of 


INDIA 


87 

the  folly  of  war  and  what  it  will  do  to  us  if  it  breaks 
out.  War  is  madness  ”  Then,  again,  as  in  every  other 
place,  the  missionaries,  every  last  one  of  them  I  met, 
of  every  kind  and  description,  were  united  in  heart, 
prayer,  hope,  and  effort  for  the  coming  of  harmony  and 
the  annihilation  of  the  war  spirit.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
the  Christian  population  of  India  is  not  large  in  com¬ 
parison  to  the  total,  but  it  is  tremendous  in  influence 
and  is  solid  against  the  war  theory  of  the  militarists. 

India  has  a  powerful  company  of  all  kinds  of 
people — Europeans  and  Indians,  government  officials 
and  civilians,  Christians  and  non-Christians — who  be¬ 
lieve  the  hour  has  fully  come  when  the  brute  force 
method  of  dynamite,  powder,  and  swords  ought  to  be 
supplanted  by  conference,  arbitration,  and  cooperation. 
The  sentiment  is  strong,  and,  although  weakened  by 
lack  of  organization,  cohesion,  and  leadership,  will 
eventually  be  a  real  factor  in  helping  to  bind  this  ele¬ 
ment  together  throughout  the  world.  India,  even  in 
turmoil,  strife,  and  discontent,  is  not  without  great 
personalities  who  see  beyond  the  present  the  dawn  of  an 
era  of  friendliness  among  men  and  nations. 


CHAPTER  IX 


EGYPT 

The  Land  of  the  Mysterious  King 

AT  no  place  were  our  expectations  aroused  to  a 
higher  pitch  than  when  we  arrived  at  Port  Said 
in  Egypt  and  proceeded  at  once  to  Cairo.  We 
had  traveled  through  old  countries,  nations,  and  peoples, 
but  here  we  were  to  enter  the  scene  where  the  human 
race  began  its  struggle  to  fulfil  the  plan  and  purpose 
of  the  Creator,  and  in  some  respects  it  was  to  be  a 
land  where,  although  so  ancient,  they  seemed  to  be 
starting  all  over  again,  as  a  man  who  has  been  lost  will 
sometimes  strike  the  trail  anew  and  command  all  his 
forces  for  one  more  great  effort  towards  the  real  goal. 
The  Egyptians  were  once  again  making  a  struggle  for 
world  recognition.  Our  entry  there  was  upon  March 
21  and  the  bulletins  on  ship  had  announced  that  a 
“King”  had  ascended  to  the  throne  and  the  coronation 
had  taken  place  upon  the  day  before,  March  20.  Dis¬ 
appointment  had  been  very  keen  that  we  were  unable  to 
reach  the  capital  city  in  time  to  witness  the  glory  of 
the  event.  Crowning  kings  is  regarded  by  Americans 
as  something  rather  unique  and  unusual,  and  here  was 
a  golden  opportunity  missed  by  only  twenty- four  hours. 
I  felt  certain  that  if  I  could  have  been  present  I  would 

88 


EGYPT  89 

have  been  able  to  make  the  home  folks  green  with  envy 
by  relating  the  dazzle  of  the  spectacle. 

Having  missed  the  event  itself,  the  next  best  thing, 
it  seemed,  would  be  to  get  as  quickly  as  possible  the 
impressions  of  those  who  had  been  more  favored  the 
day  before  and  to  find  out  just  what  this  event  would 
mean  as  related  to  the  rest  of  the  big  world.  Would 
this  new  monarch  be  for  peace  or  war,  friendship  or 
jealousy,  brotherhood  or  hatred?  These  seemed  to  be 
the  most  important  things  to  find  out  about  him,  for 
I  had  long  since  been  convinced  that  kings  are  of  only 
two  kinds — “good”  and  “bad.”  Very  few  in  all  history 
have  failed  to  classify  distinctly  under  one  or  the  other 
of  these  definitions.  As  an  advocate  of  the  peace  idea, 
I  was  restless  to  know  where  this  new  one  belonged.  It 
really  seemed  a  strange  thing  which  had  happened,  for 
in  our  wanderings  about  the  world  the  trend  had  seemed 
all  away  from  the  throne  to  democracy,  from  the  one 
man  unit  in  power  to  the  voice  of  the  people  in  suffrage 
and  open  parliaments.  The  Great  War  had  been  waged 
to  make  democracy  safe,  and  yet  here  was  a  nation 
which,  to  the  outsider,  seemed  to  be  turning  the  clock 
backwards. 

With  all  these  queries  I  started  searching  amid  the 
“ruins  of  Cairo”  for  the  true  facts.  The  first  rude 
awakening  was  to  discover  that  there  were  no  evidences 
left  anywhere  of  the  big  events  in  connection  with  the 
coronation — no  great  arches  over  the  boulevards,  no 
flags  up  (I  was  told  there  had  been  a  few,  but  they 
were  all  down  the  next  morning),  no  streets  strewn 
with  bunting,  or  other  signs  of  the  joy  of  the  folks. 
Not  one  single  man  mentioned  the  incident  to  me  unless 
I  introduced  the  subject,  and  then  there  was  a  cynical 


90  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

smile,  a  little  nod  of  the  head,  and  in  most  cases  a  wink. 
I  was  naturally  bewildered.  Cairo  on  that  morning 
was  a  hundred  times  more  concerned  over  collecting 
fees  from  a  new  American  tourist  party  of  684  people 
which  had  just  landed  than  they  were  over  talking 
about  a  king.  I  said  to  one  resident  of  whom  I  in¬ 
quired  and  got  no  information,  “I  can’t  understand  this, 
for  in  White  Plains,  New  York,  where  I  live,  we  make 
more  fuss  over  the  introduction  of  a  new  traffic  police¬ 
man  on  Main  Street  than  you  do  over  the  coronation 
of  a  king.”  His  droll  answer  was,  “Probably  that 
means  more  to  you  than  this  does  to  us.” 

Slowly  a  few  conclusions  were  arrived  at.  One  was 
the  fact  that  the  thing  which  had  happened  wasn’t  what 
the  people  had  been  clamoring  for.  The  cables  had 
been  for  months  telling  of  riots  in  the  streets,  of  the 
students  holding  great  meetings  and  organizing  pro¬ 
cessions,  and  of  occasional  violence  to  life,  all  as  an  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  demand  of  the  people  for  freedom  from 
British  rule,  and  ordinarily  one  would  expect  to  meet 
great  rejoicing  and  exultant  glee  over  the  new  king 
and  national  independence.  But  instead  there  was 
absolute  public  indifference  and  an  undertone  of  dis¬ 
gust.  A  little  searching  revealed  the  truth  that  the 
people  had  been  anxious  and  indeed  many  of  them 
desperately  in  earnest  for  “independence,”  but  none 
except  a  cult  of  office-hungry  politicians  had  been  ask¬ 
ing  for  a  monarchy.  The  mass  of  the  people  are  to-day 
like  those  who,  having  cried  for  “bread,”  have  been 
given  a  “stone.”  The  nobler,  better  class  are  stunned 
by  what  has  taken  place  and  believe  their  present  status 
is  worse  than  the  former.  It  is  not  amiss  to  add  right 
here  that  the  longer  I  searched  the  more  convinced  I 


EGYPT 


91 


became  that  this  development,  so  much  against  the  de¬ 
sire  of  the  people,  is  almost  a  guarantee  of  trouble  in 
the  future.  Unless  all  signs  fail,  the  thing  will  have 
to  be  done  over  again,  either  by  the  present  regime 
yielding  to  the  pressure  of  popular  demand  or  by 
violence  in  some  form.  Not  one  person  of  all  those  in¬ 
terviewed  believed  the  present  system  would  last  for 
any  considerable  length  of  time. 

A  second  conclusion  reached  was,  that  if  a  king  was 
to  be  granted  to  them  the  one  they  got  was  about  the 
last  man  on  earth  they  would  have  chosen.  I  do  not 
know  but  that  he  is  the  best  qualified  man  in  Egypt 
for  the  job,  but  I  do  know  that  the  mass  of  the  people  do 
not  want  him,  and  that  if  any  method  of  public  choice 
had  been  used  he  would  never  have  been  on  the  throne. 
One  simon-pure  Egyptian,  a  Mohammedan,  a  man  of 
great  social  and  financial  power,  told  me  he  thought 
that  of  fifty  so-styled  princes,  possibly  eligible,  this 
man  would  have  been  about  “forty-ninth”  in  the  choice 
of  the  citizens.  On  the  one  hand,  his  profession  to  be 
a  Mohammedan  is  not  accepted  by  the  leaders  of  the 
faith.  They  do  not  trust  him.  The  depth  of  this  feel¬ 
ing  was  evidenced  by  the  students  of  one  of  the  colleges, 
who,  upon  hearing  that  their  president  was  invited  to 
the  reception  which  followed  the  coronation,  called 
upon  him  and  said  they  did  not  want  him  to  represent 
them  (the  students),  as  they  refused  to  recognize  the 
new  ruler  as  their  king.  On  the  other  hand,  the  old 
Coptic  church,  whose  people  had  earnestly  joined  in 
the  petition  for  independence,  utterly  repudiates  his 
leadership  as  representing  their  desires  for  the  rehabili¬ 
tation  of  the  nation.  Then,  again,  the  pure  sons  of  the 
soil  do  not  accept  him  as  an  Egyptian.  A  few  years 


92  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

ago  when  the  Albanian  throne  was  vacant  he  announced 
himself  as  an  Albanian  and  applied  for  the  position  of 
king  there.  The  people  are  being  sternly  reminded  of 
this  incident  now,  and  there  is  widespread  feeling  that 
he  has  been  a  throne  hunter  for  several  years  and  would 
probably  rather  have  a  European  job  now  than  the 
present  one,  for  two  reasons.  First,  it  would  satisfy 
his  social  ambitions  a  little  more,  and  second,  it  would 
have  promise  of  a  degree  of  permanence  which  is  not 
very  assuring  in  Egypt.  The  saying  is,  “He  is  an 
Albanian  by  blood,  an  Italian  by  education,  a  French¬ 
man  by  sympathy,  a  Britisher  for  orders,  and  an  Egyp¬ 
tian  for  an  office.” 

Another  conclusion  which  I  came  to  was  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  get  a  true  estimate  of  his  character. 
Brushing  aside  all  the  mooted  questions  of  the  method 
of  his  selection,  his  ancestry,  and  his  training,  I  felt 
that  the  important  question  for  the  outside  world  and 
the  bearing  upon  international  brotherhood  was  to 
learn  about  his  true  character  and  ability.  For  in  years 
of  strain  this  always  becomes  the  determining  factor. 
If  Irvin  Cobb  wants  to  write  the  funniest  thing  he 
ever  penned  he  ought  to  go  to  Cairo  and  quietly  go 
about  asking  different  people  concerning  the  personal 
character  and  fitness  of  King  Fuad.  To  this  question, 
here  are  some  of  the  answers  I  received : 

“He  is  positively  unfit,  morally  and  mentally,  to  be 
the  ruler  of  this  people.” 

“His  morals  will  break  down  inside  of  twelve 
months.” 

“He  is  ignorant  of  Egypt  or  Egyptian  needs.” 

“His  selection  as  king  is  an  insult  to  the  womanhood 
of  Egypt.” 


EGYPT 


93 

“He  is  just  a  dummy  set  up  by  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment  to  blind  the  people.” 

“He  is  a  deep  scholar  and  a  man  of  fine  artistic 
tastes.” 

“He  is  a  very  devout  man — an  ardent  Mohamme¬ 
dan.” 

“He  is  a  man  of  unusual  administrative  abilities  and 
will  make  a  noble  record  as  king.” 

Out  of  this  mass  of  contradictions  it  became  rather 
difficult  to  form  definite  ideas,  but  I  did  discover  this : 
the  people  who  gave  the  first  set  of  answers  were  usu¬ 
ally  those  who  are  most  concerned  with  moral,  spiritual, 
and  religious  interests.  Right  or  wrong,  this  is  their 
estimate  of  the  man.  The  people  who  gave  the  second 
set  are  those  more  or  less  mixed  up  in  politics,  socially 
ambitious,  or  who  may  have  to  ask  favors  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment.  Right  or  wrong,  sincere  or  otherwise,  this 
is  what  they  say.  Here,  then,  is  the  story  of  a 
mysterious  king.  Mysterious  in  how  he  got  his  throne. 
Certainly  not  because  his  own  country  wanted  him.  Pie 
seems  to  have  been  appointed  at  Downing  Street,  Lon¬ 
don.  Small  wonder  the  folks  are  asking,  “Why?” 
Mysterious  in  his  qualifications.  Nothing  in  the  past 
that  anybody  knows  about  has  qualified  him.  Some 
very  blunt  people  say  he  was  appointed  by  Britain  be¬ 
cause  they  could  no  longer  withstand  the  demand  of  the 
Egyptians  for  fulfillment  of  the  promise  for  freedom 
made  during  the  war,  and  finally  put  this  chap  up  be¬ 
cause  he  would  obey  their  orders  and  stop  the  agitation 
for  independence.  For  the  sake  of  the  peace  of  the 
world  and  the  good  name  of  Britain,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  time  and  developments  will  fully  disprove  this 
theory,  which  is  so  current  at  present. 


94  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

There  are  a  few  places  in  the  Far  and  Near  East 
which,  while  small  in  comparative  population,  are  ex¬ 
ceedingly  important  as  centers  of  world  discord  and 
possible  cause  of  more  wars.  Egypt  is  one  of  these 
places.  To  understand  it  in  a  few  days  is  impossible, 
but  the  casual  visitor  comes  to  realize  the  absence  of 
a  common  binder  or  unit  of  the  people,  the  lack  of 
which  makes  internal  disturbances  easily  possible  and 
increases  the  tendency  for  these  factions  to  begin  bar¬ 
gaining  with  outside  forces  for  assistance  in  trying  to 
overthrow  anybody  who  chances  to  be  in  power.  It  is 
easy  to  find  the  Japanese  spirit,  the  Chinese  central  pur¬ 
pose,  or  Indian  patriotism.  But  no  such  rallying  center 
is  known  in  Egypt.  I  thought  I  found  three  almost 
entirely  separate,  distinct  types  of  people,  with  nothing 
in  common  which  would  stand  in  a  severe  strain. 

First,  there  are  the  sincere  Egyptians,  who  love  the 
country  and  whose  hearts  burn  with  a  deep  longing  to 
see  the  old  nation  rise  again.  These  are  men  and 
women  who  are  not  ambitious  for  office  or  gain,  but 
who  remember  the  ancient  glory  of  the  land  and  would 
give  life  itself  willingly,  if  need  be,  to  see  the  ruins  turn 
to  new  life.  I  talked  with  men  in  whom  this  sentiment 
seemed  pure,  noble,  unsullied.  Here  was  the  oldest 
known  nation ;  their  ancestors  built  the  first  civilization ; 
they  loved  the  soil.  The  ruins  on  the  Nile,  the  marvel¬ 
ous  collection  in  the  museum  at  Cairo,  the  matchless 
grandeur  of  the  Pyramids  tell  that  their  devotion  in 
life  and  their  hope  in  death  were  consuming  for  the 
permanent  greatness  of  Egypt.  This  spirit  is  not  gone 
entirely.  There  is  a  sincere  element  whose  wish  for 
Egypt  as  a  free,  self-governing  nation  is  not  spoiled 
by  intrigue. 


EGYPT 


95 


Second,  there  is  a  political  group  hungry  for  office 
and  its  emoluments.  I  do  not  know  of  any  place  where, 
in  so  limited  a  time,  I  have  heard  of  so  many  politically 
ambitious  men  as  around  Cairo.  The  air  is  full  of  a 
kind  of  feeling  that  somebody  is  about  to  cut  up  a  big 
political  “melon,”  and  fellows  of  all  brands,  shades, 
types,  and  past  records  are  hanging  around  to  be  in  at 
the  carving.  Here,  as  everywhere,  they  are  a  curse. 
The  place  is  infested  with  a  sort  of  a  ten-cent  aris¬ 
tocracy.  People  who  have  failed  to  shine  in  splendor 
socially  anywhere  else  are  making  a  last  mighty  en¬ 
deavor  to  be  in  the  ring  at  Cairo,  and  a  political  job  of 
any  kind,  name  or  description  is  believed  to  be  an  asset 
in  getting  one’s  name  in  the  social  register. 

Third,  there  is  a  dangerous  majority  of  “don’t 
cares.”  I  was  astonished  in  conversations  with  men 
born  of  the  soil  to  have  them  answer  again  and  again 
when  asked  the  effect  of  the  new  government,  “Oh,  I  am 
not  interested,”  “One  king  or  one  government  is  as  good 
as  another.”  This  is  not  so  surprising,  however,  when 
thought  of  in  the  light  of  their  history.  They  have  had 
five  thousand  years  of  ups  and  downs,  all  kinds  of  kings 
and  rulers  and  sultans,  most  of  whom  have  finally  be¬ 
trayed  the  people  and  left  them  in  the  humiliating  dust 
of  defeat.  No  wonder  they  can’t  get  excited  over  the 
coronation  of  another  king.  I  overheard  a  spirited 
conversation  among  a  group  at  Alexandria,  five  of 
whom  were  Egyptians,  and  all  of  them  said,  “We  do 
not  care  who  is  king  in  Cairo — that  has  nothing  to  do 
with  us.” 

The  “don’t  cares”  are  interested  in  three  questions 
which  to  them  seem  really  significant:  First,  “Will 
taxes  increase  or  decrease?”  They  have  known  a  time 


96  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

when  the  king  took  ninety  per  cent  of  the  crop  from  the 
peasants  and  the  poverty  of  the  land  to-day  is  a  history 
of  the  common  people  having  been  robbed  of  the  reward 
of  their  toil.  They  do  want  to  know  if  those  unhappy 
hours  can  come  back  again.  They  are  not  sure  that  one 
more  king  will  have  any  effect  upon  this,  but  if  so,  then 
they  will  be  heard  from. 

Second,  “Shall  we  be  able  to  get  water  on  the  land?” 
This  is  a  big  question.  For  over  five  hundred  miles 
yonder  stretches  the  marvelous  valley  of  the  Nile. 
Once  in  every  year  for  two  months  God  has  so  ordered 
the  upper  rains  that  the  whole  low  land  is  flooded,  and 
with  the  water  automatic  fertilization  takes  place. 
There  is  nothing  else  like  it  on  earth.  Vegetables, 
wheat,  oats,  barley,  corn,  cotton,  alfalfa,  simply  rush 
to  harvest.  Having  spent  most  of  my  younger  life  as  a 
farmer  and  all  my  years  in  contact  with  the  agricultural 
problem,  I  looked  with  keen  admiration  upon  those 
wonderful  crops  in  the  Nile  valley,  worthy  of  the  finest 
farming  district  anywhere  in  the  United  States.  Of 
some  of  these  three  bounteous  crops  are  gathered  each 
year.  But  following  the  flood  these  fields  must  have 
water  from  the  irrigation  canals.  Egypt’s  history  is 
full  of  bribery  and  crooked  dealing  over  this  water 
question.  Unless  the  powers  that  be  are  honest,  the 
peasant  may  find  the  supply  cut  off,  his  crops  will  die, 
and  starvation  will  be  his  lot,  while  the  big  land  owner 
will  thrive.  The  most  real  animation  I  discovered 
about  the  new  king  was  at  this  point.  Those  familiar 
with  his  unsavory  past  expressed  the  fear  that  he  would 
quickly  fall  into  this  form  of  corruption  “if  he  had 
the  power.”  This  water  question  is  more  vital  to  ten 
million  of  the  fourteen  million  population  than  forms 


EGYPT 


97 

of  government,  national  independence,  autonomy,  or 
liberty. 

Third,  “Will  the  tourist  season  be  protected?”  If 
you  want  to  touch  the  real  bare  nerve  of  Cairo  and 
Alexandria,  just  say  some  pessimistic  word  about  the 
future  of  the  tourist.  They  had  lean  years  during  the 
war,  and  this  past  winter  gave  thousands  their  first 
good  meal  since  1914  and  some  ready  money.  A  large 
element  in  the  country  would  accept  any  kind  of  govern¬ 
ment  if  only  assured  of  a  big  continuous  tourist  busi¬ 
ness.  I  chanced  to  have  a  short  conversation  with  one 
merchant  and  introduced  the  king  question.  He  very 
quickly  said,  “I  do  not  care  who  is  king  or  what  kind  of 
a  government  we  have,  just  so  long  as  they  keep  from 
doing  some  fool  thing  to  drive  the  tourist  away.” 

The  purpose  of  this  article,  or  that  of  my  visit,  is 
not  served  by  any  lengthy  comment  upon  these  sight¬ 
seeing  travelers,  but  they  do  have  a  bearing  upon  the 
well-being  of  the  country.  I  was  privileged  to  see  them 
in  their  glory — four  hundred,  five  hundred,  six  hun¬ 
dred,  and  up  to  eight  hundred  in  a  “party.”  After 
traveling  long  and  far  I  lived  to  see  the  high-water 
mark  of  this  Americanism  upon  the  steps  of  “Shep¬ 
herd’s.”  Talking  in  high-pitched  voices,  expressing 
amazement  at  anything  or  anybody,  just  to  feel  they 
were  getting  their  money’s  worth,  finding  real  joy  in 
being  duped  by  Cairo  fakirs — they  are  vital  to  Egyp¬ 
tian  prosperity,  and  the  inhabitants  are  human  enough 
not  to  want  to  see  this  snap  spoiled. 

I  do  not  censure  the  tourists  for  centering  upon  this 
as  one  place  to  be  visited,  even  if  a  lot  of  others  have 
to  be  omitted.  I  know  of  no  place  which  seems  to  offer 
such  attractions  to  so  many  kind  of  travelers  as  do 


98  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Cairo  and  Egypt :  If  the  bent  is  for  biological  research, 
no  one  spot  can  compare  with  it  in  interest.  If  the 
appetite  calls  for  history,  here  it  is  to  be  found,  with  a 
sweep  from  Adam  and  Eve  to  the  newest  monarchy  in 
the  world.  If  the  desire  is  to  be  confirmed  in  the 
essential  truth  of  the  Bible  record  of  early  history, 
nothing  equals  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  The  pick  and 
shovel  of  the  archeologist  are  putting  arbitrary  theology 
in  the  background  as  a  witness  to  the  truth  of  the 
Christian’s  sacred  book.  If  the  artistic  is  sought  and 
pictures  are  to  be  painted,  there  is  the  spot.  Of  eight 
evenings  in  Cairo  I  spent  four  watching  the  changing 
shades  and  lights  of  the  setting  sun  upon  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  Pyramids  and  the  surrounding  hills.  If  health 
demands  rest  and  favorable  climate,  this  wonderland 
can  be  marked  one  hundred  per  cent.  If  amusement 
and  recreation  seem  necessary,  fifty-seven  different 
varieties  are  offered.  No  age,  kind,  or  condition  need 
have  a  dull  hour  in  Cairo.  Therefore,  the  people  who 
have  to  struggle  for  a  livelihood  are  not  to  be  too 
severely  criticized  for  their  anxiety  to  protect  this  asset. 

As  a  part  of  the  answer  to  the  utter  lack  of  interest 
in  the  king  and  what  the  new  administration  is  or  may 
be,  the  struggle  of  the  vast  majority  for  bread  and  a 
decent  life  must  be  understood;  but  all  of  these  con¬ 
siderations  must  not  dim  the  deeper  questions  of 
Egypt’s  influence  for  good  or  bad  in  the  world  of 
politics.  There  are  great  possibilities  of  internal  strife 
there.  Just  across  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  held  de¬ 
ported  as  dangerous,  is  a  pure  Egyptian  whose  blood 
puts  him  in  direct  line  for  the  throne,  if  one  there  is  to 
be,  who  is  there  waiting  to  return  at  any  auspicious 
moment  to  throw  King  Fuad  out.  He  is  without  doubt 


EGYPT 


99 


more  loved  by  the  people  than  any  other  prince.  He 
and  his  followers  may  upset  the  whole  scheme  some 
day  with  a  suddenness  which  will  not  wait  for  any  kind 
of  a  conference. 

The  language  most  spoken  in  Cairo  and  almost  en¬ 
tirely  in  Alexandria  is  French.  The  French  would 
love  to  have  Egypt  again;  in  their  hearts  they  believe 
it  belongs  to  them.  Germany,  if  ever  again  in  reach  of 
wide  colonies,  would  be  delighted  to  get  Egypt.  She 
spent  millions  of  marks  and  thousands  of  lives  in  that 
vain  effort  in  1916  and  1917.  Then  the  pan-Moham¬ 
medan  rule  can  never  be  satisfied  with  any  half-breed 
affair  in  Cairo.  Upon  the  surface  now  it  seems  smooth 
and  calm,  but  beneath  are  explosives  enough  to  make 
peace-loving  people  tremble  for  the  future. 

Egypt  has,  however,  strong  signs  of  hope  quite  be¬ 
yond  many  other  spots  in  the  world.  The  natural  de¬ 
sires  of  the  people,  taken  together  with  influences  which 
are  in  action  there,  lead  one  to  believe  that,  given  rea¬ 
sonable  time,  without  upheavals  in  the  rest  of  the  world, 
they  may  become  a  real  element  in  the  better  conditions 
so  much  needed  everywhere.  Among  these  may  be 
noted  the  new  Egyptian  spirit  already  referred  to,  in 
those  of  the  inhabitants  who  have  unselfish  desires  for 
the  nation’s  good.  They  may  be  most  largely  found 
among  the  students,  who  are  unqualifiedly  of  this  type, 
but  not  alone  among  them,  for  they  are  to  be  found 
in  many  departments  of  Egyptian  life.  Too  generous 
praise  cannot  be  given  to  what  is  spoken  of  as  the 
“new  party”  there,  made  up  of  men  who  have  set  their 
hearts  and  minds  in  a  sincere  purpose  to  redeem  the 
good  name  of  Egypt  and  establish  a  nation  with  all  the 
essential  institutions  of  education,  religion,  and  gov- 


100  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


ernment  necessary  to  give  them  a  real  place  in  the 
world  of  affairs.  Despite  all  the  handicaps,  they  give 
promise  of  a  better  day  in  the  land  of  Goshen. 

The  continued  relation  of  the  British  Government  is 
also  a  very  substantial  guarantee  that  the  riots  and  dis¬ 
orders  prophesied  by  many  in  the  event  of  a  change  of 
authority  will  not  take  place  to  any  considerable  degree. 
It  is  true  that  King  George  did  send  a  telegram  to  King 
Fuad  congratulating  him  upon  his  ascendancy  to  the 
ancient  throne  of  the  Pharoahs,  and  it  is  also  true  that 
Lord  Curzon  sent  his  felicitations  to  the  new  member 
of  the  world’s  royalty  upon  having  been  granted  a  king¬ 
dom  and  “full  independence,”  but  it  is  also  true  that 
Britain  retains  “certain  relations”  to  the  government 
as  a  necessary  means  of  guarding  her  interest  there.  It 
is  also  true  that  the  Union  Jack  floats  supreme  over 
the  entire  length  of  the  Suez  Canal  and  no  suggestion 
is  made  of  its  being  removed.  Neither  is  any  change 
hinted  at  in  the  Soudan  concerning  British  “influence.” 
Every  man  of  whom  I  inquired  about  the  nature  of  the 
new  regime,  and  as  to  how  it  was  expected  to  operate, 
seemed  to  base  his  conclusions  upon  something  Lord 
Allenby  had  told  him  or  was  reported  to  have  said  to 
somebody  else.  From  what  I  could  learn  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that,  notwithstanding  the  appointment  of 
King  Fuad  and  a  cabinet  and  the  promise  of  a  consti¬ 
tution,  His  Excellency  Lord  Allenby  is  vice  king,  prime 
minister,  member  extraordinary  of  the  cabinet,  editor 
of  the  constitution,  interpreter  of  the  laws  and  treaties, 
ambassador  of  the  Court  of  St.  James  and  major  gen¬ 
eral  of  all  the  armies  of  Egypt.  This  fact  is  an  omen 
of  an  era  of  order  and  the  establishment  of  a  stable 
government. 


EGYPT 


IOI 


The  American  influence  in  Egypt,  I  am  glad  to  state, 
is  of  the  highest  order  for  good.  Peculiar  satisfaction 
accompanies  this  statement  in  remembrance  of  the  fact 
that  this  is  not  always  the  result  of  the  American  con¬ 
tact  in  the  distant  parts  of  the  world.  The  tourists  who 
visit  Cairo  from  the  United  States  are  morally  and 
mentally  away  and  above  the  average  of  the  rabble  who 
rush  to  the  giddy  European  resorts.  I  heard  frequent 
comments  on  the  absence  of  liquor  from  the  tables  in 
the  dining  rooms  where  these  travelers  were  guests.  I 
did  not  see  one  of  them  intoxicated.  The  present  dip¬ 
lomatic  staff,  presided  over  by  Dr.  Howell,  is  of  a  high 
moral  and  intellectual  tone.  We  have  furnished  enough 
drunkards  there  in  the  past  to  add  to  the  enthusiasm 
of  appreciation  for  the  present  type.  No  whisky,  no 
gambling,  no  unsavory  social  events  enter  into  Dr. 
Howell’s  plan. 

The  representatives  of  the  American  mission  and 
their  work  are  of  inestimable  value  to  the  future  of 
Egypt  and  the  good  name  of  America.  The  mission  is 
a  fitting  tribute  to  the  spirit  of  the  sturdy  old  United 
Presbyterian  Church.  Later  comment  will  be  made  on 
the  whole  Christian  missionary  movement  throughout 
the  world  as  a  peace  program,  but  the  unique  work  of 
this  company  of  Americans  in  this  unique  place  at  this 
unique  time  is  a  matter  of  such  significance  that  atten¬ 
tion  is  called  to  it  as  a  substantial  feature  in  Egypt’s 
new  birth.  The  central  mission  house  is  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  with  its  publishing  plant  and  distributing 
centers  at  church  schools,  with  Dr.  Alexander  with  over 
forty  years’  experience  in  charge.  The  college  for  girls 
is  to  the  north,  with  Miss  Atchison  as  principal,  and  the 
American  college  for  men  in  the  south  with  Dr.  Me- 


102  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


Clenahan  as  president.  These,  with  over  one  hundred 
other  teachers,  preachers,  and  missionaries  engaged  in 
every  possible  form  of  Christian  work,  are  literally 
penetrating  the  whole  life  of  Egypt  with  Christian 
ideals  and  hopes.  The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Asso¬ 
ciation,  with  Mr.  Wilbert  B.  Smith  as  general  secre¬ 
tary,  is  another  wholesome  factor  in  American  con¬ 
tributions  to  Egypt’s  future.  A  similar  work  by  the 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  is  strengthen¬ 
ing  the  sum  total  of  American  influence  in  making 
Egypt  a  place  which  may  help  the  world  in  its  search 
for  relief  from  strife  and  violence  and  a  land  of  peace 
and  prosperity. 

Mystery  may  surround  the  king,  his  being  where  he 
is,  how  he  got  there,  and  how  long  he  will  stay  where 
he  is,  but  there  is  no  mystery  about  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect  in  the  moral  world.  If  the  elements  in  Egypt 
which  are  now  being  pressed  for  good  can  be  preserved 
stronger  than  the  older  ones  of  intrigue,  immorality, 
and  bribery,  then  this  land  of  the  fathers  still  has  a  place 
in  making  the  world  one  fit  for  the  sons  to  dwell  in  in 
brotherhood. 


The  publisher  was  in  error  in  having  the  picture  of 
The  Greek  Patriarch  appear  on  the  front  page,  as 
President  of  the  World  Alliance  of  Churches*  This 
picture  should  have  appeared  in  connection  with  the 
Constantinople  article,  and  he  should  have  been  given 
the  title  of  Chairman  for  the  Council  there* 


■  rw?j.L-q  tdf  ;_nlw;  -T-  ■  3  ,  £  efw  *tod& T4vq  il2 

a*  i  /s*  erict-  rto  weqq.B  da-!4.t  ^  &* vd-d  tir? 
'  ■ 

. 

. 


CHAPTER  X 


PALESTINE 

At  the  High  Place  in  Jerusalem  Where  Religions 

Have  Failed 

IT  is  difficult  to  express  the  deep,  anxious  curiosity 
which  came  to  me  as  the  time  drew  near  to  enter 
“Palestine, ”  “Jerusalem” — “The  Holy  Land.” 
After  months  of  wandering,  conferring  and  speaking 
upon  the  theme  of  some  plan  or  philosophy  which  would 
bind  the  world  together  in  a  real  brotherhood  of  friend¬ 
liness  and  cooperation,  and  having  been  everywhere  in 
the  presence  of  rumors  of  war  and  evidences  of  bitter¬ 
ness  and  jealousies,  I  anticipated  these  sacred  scenes 
with  peculiar  interest.  Memory  brought  back  the  story 
of  beautiful  Bethlehem  upon  that  quiet  Christmas  night, 
the  star  in  the  heavens,  the  angels  singing  “Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace  good  will 
toward  men,”  the  shepherds  keeping  their  flocks  in  the 
valleys;  then  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes,  Nazareth,  and 
blue  Galilee.  Surely,  it  seemed  as  though  this  spot  must 
give  hope  of  the  fulfillment  of  the  time  when  the  Golden 
Rule  would  be  in  actual  practice.  I  had  been  preaching 
Christ,  the  “Prince  of  Peace,”  to  large  audiences  round 
the  world  and  had  challenged  all  other  doctrines  to 
give  proof  of  having  in  them  the  essence  of  good  will 
to  all  men.  I  remembered  that  the  meaning  of  the 

103 


104  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

word  Jerusalem  was  “peaceful  city,”  and  recalled  that 
here  Christ  gave  as  the  second  greatest  commandment, 
“Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.” 

With  these  thoughts  we  arrived  in  Jerusalem,  the 
city  of  world  influence  in  older  history,  and  the  one 
yet  to  be  of  vast  significance  in  the  weal  or  woe  of  the 
whole  human  race.  I  was  there  upon  a  specific  errand, 
with  definite  duties  imposed,  but  I  found  it  impossible 
to  keep  aloof  from  the  historic  setting  or  from  some 
impressions,  which  are  general  in  character,  but  are 
involved  in  the  whole  story  of  international  affairs. 
For  what  Palestine  is  in  character,  in  people  and  cus¬ 
toms,  must  be  taken  into  account  in  the  attempt  to  see 
it  smoothly  articulated  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
impressions  given  are  largely  the  ones  which  were 
made  by  direct  contact  with  scenes  and  people,  and 
while  they  may  be  in  error  at  some  points,  they  are  fun¬ 
damentally  true  to  facts. 

In  the  first  place ,  the  visitor  is  overwhelmed  by  the 
apparent  religiosity  of  the  place.  This  is  true  more  or 
less  of  all  Palestine,  but  reaches  its  high  point  in  the 
capital  city.  Inside  of  twenty-four  hours  I  had  seen 
enough  long-frocked  priests,  monks,  and  ecclesiastics  of 
various  kinds  to  save  the  whole  world  in  twenty  months 
if  they  had  any  real  virtue  in  them.  I  had  seen  pro¬ 
cessions  of  religionists,  heard  endless  prayers  being 
said,  and  seen  women  in  one  church  taking  relays  in 
reading  Scripture,  so  there  should  be  no  break  in  the 
reading  from  daylight  till  dark.  I  had  been  awakened 
at  four-thirty  in  the  morning  by  the  muezzins  on  the 
towers  calling  the  people  to  early  prayer  at  the  mosques. 
Of  these  there  are  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  in  the 
city,  but  in  eight  days  I  didn’t  find  one  hundred  people 


PALESTINE 


105 


in  them  altogether,  although  I  sought  diligently.  Upon 
two  occasions  I  went  upon  Friday,  their  special  prayer 
day,  but  with  the  same  result — there  were  not  over  ten 
people  in  any  one  of  them. 

I  have  no  doubt  some  of  these  ecclesiastics  are  sin¬ 
cere,  but  for  the  most  part  I  believe  them  to  be  just 
ordinary  lazy  fakirs.  It  is  a  strange  thing  how  this 
cult  has  hung  to  Jerusalem  like  leeches  for  thousands 
of  years.  Here  they  were  in  Solomon’s  time,  and  Jesus 
found  their  descendants  still  pestering  the  people  in  His 
day,  and  now  they  confront  one  at  every  corner.  As 
the  great  Temple  seemed  to  be  their  favorite  rendezvous 
in  His  day,  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  has  that 
distinction  now.  Jesus  rather  vigorously  drove  that 
crowd  out  of  the  Temple,  and  I  solemnly  believe  He 
would  do  the  same  thing  now  if  He  came  there  and 
witnessed  the  gang  of  pious  bakshish  hunters  who  in¬ 
fest  the  place.  The  words  of  the  Savior,  “Beware  of 
the  scribes  which  desire  to  walk  in  long  robes  and  love 
greetings  in  the  markets,  and  the  highest  seats  in  the 
synagogues  and  the  chief  rooms  at  the  feasts;  which 
devour  widows’  houses,  and  for  a  show  make  long 
prayers;  the  same  shall  receive  greater  damnation,” 
came  to  me  every  hour  I  walked  inside  the  walls  of  the 
old  city.  The  same  old  type  is  there  now  and,  one 
might  easily  believe,  wearing  some  of  the  same  robes 
of  two  thousand  years  ago. 

They  are  a  parody  upon  the  simple,  beautiful  life 
He  lived  and  the  precepts  He  taught.  The  saddest 
thing  about  this  crowd  is  the  fact  that  they  have  cap¬ 
tured  most  of  the  traditional  sacred  places,  covered 
them  with  some  kind  of  a  so-called  church  or  mosque, 
and  stand  around  collecting  admission  fees  from  trav- 


io6  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


elers.  You  are  taken  down  into  a  dark,  dingy  base¬ 
ment  and  pointed  to  a  spot  where  Christ  was  born — 
bakshish.  If  you  wish  to  see  the  supposed  palace  of 
Caiaphas’  judgment  hall,  more  bakshish.  The  imagin¬ 
ary  spot  of  the  crucifixion  is  a  place  to  leave  another 
bakshish.  The  pool  of  Bethesda,  the  dome  of  the  rock 
of  Solomon’s  Temple,  now  a  Mohammedan  mosque, 
the  tombs  of  Abraham,  Sarah,  Leah,  Isaac,  Rebekah, 
and  Joshua  are  all  under  a  mosque  entered  by  the  route 
of  bakshish.  This  early  impression  is  one  of  debauched 
sacred  history.  It  seems  a  shame  that  these  spots  could 
not  have  been  redeemed  and  kept  with  clean,  pure  sur¬ 
roundings,  which  would  inspire  respect  for  religion 
rather  than  make  them  the  by- word  joke  of  the  hotel 
lobbies. 

This  feeling  and  statement  should  not  be  construed 
as  a  criticism  of  all  ecclesiastical  dress  or  of  Christian 
churches  in  other  parts  of  the  world  bearing  exactly  the 
same  name.  I  have  met  many  of  these  who  are  of  the 
noblest  in  real  service  to  humanity.  But  for  some  un¬ 
accountable  reason  the  inside  Jerusalem  type  is  a  re¬ 
proach  upon  the  very  name  it  bears. 

Fortunately,  this  is  not  all  the  story  of  the  Christian 
manifestation  in  Palestine  or  Jerusalem.  There  are 
splendid  missions,  schools,  churches,  hospitals,  Y.  M. 
C.  A/s  and  Y.  W.  C.  A/s,  but  they  are  not  related  to 
the  holy  places  and  therefore  ofttimes  not  seen  by  the 
tourist.  After  I  had  wandered  eight  days  through 
these  distressing  scenes  I  had  the  privilege  of  attending 
divine  worship  in  St.  George’s  Cathedral  of  the  Church 
of  England ;  it  was  like  balm  to  tired  nerves.  The  same 
Sunday  afternoon  I  spoke  to  a  magnificent  audience  in 
the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association,  and  later  vis- 


PALESTINE 


107 


ited  some  of  the  other  missions  and  churches.  Finally, 
we  had  dinner  at  the  American  colony,  and  an  evening 
of  sacred  music.  This  is  the  group  brought  out  by  the 
famous  Spofford  to  live  the  pure,  simple  Christ-life  of 
friendship  and  service,  as  a  true  illustration  of  what 
Jesus  meant  His  followers  to  be.  I  felt  as  though  a  rule 
ought  to  be  established  requiring  travelers  to  include 
these  places  in  their  sight-seeing  expeditions,  as  a  kind 
of  corrective  to  the  rest  of  their  experiences. 

In  the  second  place ,  I  was  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  to  follow  the  dragomans  ( guides )  through  their 
well-learned  speeches  one  needs  to  leave  all  ideas  of 
reason  and  common  sense  behind.  The  writer  has  been 
rather  familiar  for  twenty-five  years  with  the  prepared 
stories  for  travelers  at  most  of  the  places  of  unique 
interest  throughout  the  world,  but  all  of  them  fade  into 
innocent  nursery  rhymes  as  compared  with  Jerusalem. 
You  are  shown  a  hole  two  feet  deep,  in  a  solid  granite 
rock,  caused  by  Mohammed’s  once  jumping  up  from  his 
prayers  and  bumping  his  head  at  that  spot.  You  are 
also  told  that  this  same  rock  started  to  follow  Moham¬ 
med  on  his  ascension  and  has  ever  since  remained  sus¬ 
pended  in  mid-air  without  support,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  one  end  seems  to  be  a  solid  rock  and  the  other 
is  liberally  supported  by  heavy  posts  to  be  seen  right 
before  your  face. 

A  cabinet  is  pointed  out  where  one  hair  from  Mo¬ 
hammed’s  beard  has  been  preserved  and  is  still  growing 
nearly  thirteen  hundred  years  after  his  death.  His 
footprint  in  a  marble  slab  is  one  of  the  sights.  The  place 
is  indicated  over  the  valley  of  Jehosaphat  where  at 
the  final  day  of  judgment  a  sharp  sword  will  extend 
and  all  of  those  who  can  successfully  walk  across  upon 


io8  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


the  sharp  edge  of  the  sword  will  be  saved,  and  those 
who  have  sinned  will  fall  off  and  drop  down  into  hell. 
Six  golden  nails  are  shown,  in  a  room  dark  as  a  dun¬ 
geon,  sticking  in  a  stone  wall  eight  feet  thick,  and  we 
are  told  that  as  soon  as  someone  pushes  one  of  them 
clear  through  the  wall  the  world  will  come  to  an  end. 
In  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  you  are  taken  to 
the  spot  where  the  crucifixion  took  place,  the  table 
where  the  body  was  prepared  for  burial,  the  tomb,  and 
the  rock  upon  which  the  gamblers  cast  lots  for  the  gar¬ 
ments,  and  all  in  a  space  about  thirty  feet  square.  At 
Hebron,  you  are  escorted  to  the  very  oak  tree  under 
which  Abraham  pitched  his  first  tent  when  on  his  pil¬ 
grimage  to  Egypt. 

In  Samaria  we  were  taken  through  dark  tunnels 
and  dirty  narrow  streets  down  into  musty  subways, 
up  stone  stairways,  and  finally  to  a  mysterious  room 
where  three  gorgeously  dressed  priests  appeared, 
said  to  be  a  part  of  the  remnant  of  the  old 
Samaritan  Jews,  only  twenty-five  of  whom  are  now 
living.  With  the  pomp  of  the  great  high  priest  they 
brought  out  a  white-robed  roll  of  something  which, 
when  uncovered,  we  were  told  was  the  ‘'original  Pen¬ 
tateuch  written  by  the  brother  of  Aaron  just  thirteen 
years  after  the  death  of  Moses.”  A  little  more  bakshish 
and  the  show  was  over.  These  are  just  a  few  samples 
of  the  fables  which  have  been  worked  up  to  impose 
upon  the  sentimental  traveler  as  the  surest  way  of  se¬ 
curing  liberal  bakshish. 

The  first  day  we  were  in  charge  of  a  guide  who  told 
these  tales  with  an  intensity  which  suggested  that  he 
expected  them  to  be  believed.  For  the  rest  of  the  time 
we  had  a  Christian  boy  of  the  American  colony,  who 


PALESTINE 


109 


did  not  deprive  us  of  the  thrills  of  the  incidents,  but 
introduced  them  always  by  the  comment,  “They  say.” 
I  would  strongly  advise  visitors  to  Jerusalem  to  secure 
guides  of  the  “they  say”  variety.  It  is  pitiful  to  know 
that  here  where  more  people  come  to  be  reminded  of 
God,  life,  duty,  and  eternity  than  at  any  other  place 
on  earth,  tens  of  thousands  are  being  thus  deluded, 
while  to  others  these  scenes  which  ought  to  produce 
reverence  become  just  a  cheap  farce. 

In  the  third  place,  at  the  end  of  ten  days  I  thought  I 
knew  a  little  more  of  why  God  seemed  to  love  this  land 
and  seek  to  have  it  for  the  permanent  abiding  place  of 
His  chosen  people.  Dr.  Henry  Van  Dyke,  in  his  book, 
“Out  of  Doors  in  the  Holy  Land,”  says  he  had  no 
trouble  in  finding  Palestine,  but  he  did  have  a  hard  time 
finding  the  Holy  Land,  and  did  not  really  succeed  till 
he  got  out  into  the  hills  and  country.  The  West  has  a 
way  of  describing  types  of  men,  one  being  an  “inside 
man”  and  another  an  “outside  man.”  Whatever  one’s 
tastes,  naturally,  one  who  hopes  to  find  the  glory  of 
Palestine  must  be  of  the  “outside”  kind.  Our  first  trip 
in  the  country  was  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  and  the 
Jordan,  over  the  hills  of  Judea  by  that  famous  robber 
road  and  the  inn  which  marks  the  supposed  spot  where 
the  Good  Samaritan  took  the  wounded  man,  through 
the  valley  of  the  brook  Cherith  where  Elijah  was  fed 
by  the  ravens,  on  to  ancient  Jericho  and  to  the  fountain 
where  Elisha  purified  the  waters.  We  breakfasted 
there  by  the  side  of  the  stream,  then  went  on  under  the 
sycamore  trees  to  the  little  Jordan,  where  John  baptized 
Jesus ;  from  there  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and  amid  the  Arabs, 
the  camels,  and  the  donkeys  back  past  the  Mount  of 
Temptation  with  a  stop  at  Bethany  to  pick  the  “lilies  of 


no  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


the  field,”  and  then  to  Jerusalem.  Again,  the  same 
afternoon,,  we  made  a  trip  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  and 
by  some  strange  coincidence  there  was  an  eclipse  of 
the  sun  while  there  which  gave  the  distant  Jerusalem  a 
glory  of  golden  tint  never  to  be  forgotten.  We  walked 
down  the  steep,  rocky  hillside,  where  Jesus  led  His 
disciples  so  many  times,  and  watched  the  sunset  from 
the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  which  is  just  an  open  plot 
filed  with  lovely  flowers  and  shrubs  and  a  cool  spring  of 
water.  A  thousand  memories  were  revived,  and  the 
beauty  of  that  scene  had  made  all  the  inside  incidents 
seem  insignificant. 

Again,  we  motored  north  on  the  road  via  Sychar  to 
Galilee.  Yonder  was  the  hill  where  Samuel  judged, 
and  just  across  the  valley  were  the  ruins  of  the  boy¬ 
hood  home  of  Saul  and  the  valley  where  he  grew  jealous 
of  David.  We  stopped  at  Jacob’s  well,  near  Sychar, 
where  Jesus  told  the  poor  wicked  woman  of  the  spring 
of  living  water,  and  made  another  stop  in  ancient 
Shechem.  Then  we  broke  the  trip  to  see  Nazareth, 
where  Mary  and  Joseph  lived  just  like  folks  and  Jesus 
was  a  regular  boy  and  a  good  carpenter.  Over  there 
was  Mount  Tabor  and  the  other  way  the  Mount  of 
Beatitudes.  Then  we  went  on  through  Cana,  up  the 
steep  of  a  high  mountain,  where  away  to  the  north 
snow-capped  Mount  Hermon  could  be  seen,  and  then 
on  to  the  beautiful  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  cannot  be  de¬ 
scribed.  It  must  be  seen.  All  the  way  were  peasants 
with  donkeys  and  camel  trains  not  different  from  those 
times  of  two  and  three  thousand  years  ago.  We  went 
by  boat  from  Tiberias  to  old  Capernaum.  Uncon¬ 
sciously  some  in  our  party  kept  humming  that  beauti¬ 
ful  hymn: 


PALESTINE 


hi 


Oh,  Galilee,  sweet  Galilee, 

Where  Jesus  loved  so  much  to  be; 

Oh,  Galilee,  blue  Galilee, 

Come,  sing  thy  song  again  to  me. 

But  at  one  place  we  were  surprised  and  delighted  to 
have  our  four  Galilean  boatmen  stop  rowing  and  join 
in  exquisite  harmony  in  singing  nearly  the  entire  song. 
Then  we  visited  Bethsaida,  where  Jesus  met  James, 
John,  Andrew,  and  Philip.  Small  wonder  the  Savior 
loved  this  sea,  with  its  almost  matchless  scenery,  and 
hurried  back  to  it  so  often.  It  is  a  source  of  satisfac¬ 
tion  to  know  that  nobody  can  build  a  mosque  or  so- 
styled  church  over  it  to  hide  its  glory.  A  lady  in  Jeru¬ 
salem  said,  “The  Peace  has  not  left  Galilee,  but  I  can 
almost  hear  the  crowd  inside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem 
shouting  'Crucify  Him,  Crucify  Him!’  now  as  I  walk 
through  those  narrow  streets.” 

Once  more  we  went  over  the  hills  where  David  kept 
those  few  sheep,  to  the  south,  to  old  Hebron  that  Ab¬ 
raham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  and  David  loved  so  much; 
through  the  vineyards  where  Caleb  and  Joshua  found 
the  big  grapes,  past  the  field  where  Ruth  gleaned  and 
won  Boaz,  and  on  to  Bethlehem,  where  Joseph  and 
Mary  found  only  a  stable  open  for  them  and  a  manger 
cradle  for  the  Savior  of  the  world.  Another  time  we 
went  west,  where  Samson  won  and  lost  his  glory,  over 
the  hills,  down  in  the  valleys,  past  the  shepherds  by 
thousands  still  keeping  their  flocks,  through  the  Bedouin 
camps,  whose  people  still  wander  here  and  there  as 
some  whim  moves  them,  but  who  have  no  permanent 
abiding  place. 

It  is  a  glorious  country,  and  ought  to  be  redeemed 


1 12  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

to  speak  yet  more  of  God’s  triumph  in  the  gift  of  the 
Christian  Gospel.  Its  scenery,  its  sacred  history,  its 
rich  soil,  its  vast  grazing  hills,  and  its  location,  all 
testify  not  only  to  its  permanent  importance  in  past 
history  but  to  its  place  of  power  for  good  or  bad  in  the 
story  of  life  that  is  yet  to  be  written. 

In  the  fourth  place,  there  are  found  in  Palestine 
elements  of  severe  jealousy ,  bitterness ,  and  restrained 
violence  which  may  some  day  imperil  the  peace  of  the 
whole  world.  Palestine  as  a  unit  will  probably  not  de¬ 
clare  war  on  anybody,  at  least  not  for  many,  many 
years.  She  has  no  power  within  herself  to  do  that. 
But  here  are  found  some  of  the  most  delicate  points  of 
friction,  of  the  kind  for  which  men  will  fight  more  des¬ 
perately  than  for  economic  advantage  or  geographical 
expansion.  Were  the  rest  of  the  world  less  disturbed 
these  would  not  be  so  dangerous,  but  the  sensitive 
nerves  of  Palestine  reach  very  wide  areas,  and  unless 
great  care  is  exercised  and  a  superior  grade  of  wisdom 
brought  to  bear  upon  her  affairs,  here  may  be  found 
the  provocation  for  an  outbreak  which  will  know  no 
bounds.  Small  Serbia  was  such  a  spot  in  1914.  I 
am  persuaded  that  no  place,  in  my  knowledge,  of  ten 
times  the  population  furnishes  anything  like  such  pos¬ 
sibilities  as  may  be  discovered  in  Palestine,  when  one 
begins  to  dig  a  little  beneath  the  surface  of  the  well- 
worn  tourist  routes. 

Here,  as  in  few  places,  the  problem  of  the  effect  of 
the  Western  ideas,  types,  and  methods  is  a  source  of 
irritation,  and  what  the  result  is  to  be  is  yet  to  be  re¬ 
vealed.  The  Far  East  is  made  up  of  nations  with  some 
form  of  protection  for  their  traditions,  but  Palestine 
has  nothing,  and  the  West  is  running  riot  here  with  a 


PALESTINE 


ii3 

free  hand.  High-powered  automobnes  go  racing  over 
the  Jericho  road,  through  Bethlehem  to  Hebron,  and 
past  Jacob’s  well  into  Nazareth,  whizzing  to  the  edge 
of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  while  the  long,  slow  camel  trains 
are  pushed  aside,  the  Arab  looks  on  bewildered  and 
the  poor  little,  heavy-laden  donkey  seems  anchored  to 
his  spot. 

Filled  with  a  great  sense  of  sacredness  and  reverence, 
I  started  to  climb  the  hill  at  Nazareth  to  visit  the  boy¬ 
hood  home  of  Jesus.  Inside  of  ten  minutes  I  had  seen 
in  open  shop  doors  a  dozen  Singer  sewing  machines 
being  operated,  some  of  them  making  the  famous 
“Nazareth  hand-made  lace”  the  ladies  rave  about.  I 
stood  a  long  time  in  front  of  the  Virgin’s  fountain  try¬ 
ing  to  get  a  snapshot  of  the  spring  before  I  was  suc¬ 
cessful — not  because  the  water  carriers  were  not  com¬ 
ing  and  going,  but  because  most  of  them  had  tin  cans 
instead  of  jars.  These  cans,  formerly  used  to  bring  in 
Standard  Oil,  are  a  pest  to  the  eye,  and  have  about 
wrecked  the  pottery  industry. 

Then,  forcing  the  English  language  everywhere  is 
putting  the  peasant  nativ:  clear  out  of  touch  with  what 
is  going  on  around  him.  The  most  disgusting  thing 
has  been  the  introduction  of  the  public  bar  where 
liquors  are  freely  sold  to  anybody  and  everybody  ex¬ 
cept  “N.  C.  O.’s  and  men  of  the  British  army.”  I  was 
told  repeatedly  that  this  curse  was  not  known  a  few 
years  ago. 

These  are  only  a  few  illustrations  out  of  many  which 
might  be  noted  and  which  raise  the  whole  question  of 
what  the  total  effect  of  the  West  upon  the  East  will  be. 
If  a  cry  of  discontent  should  go  out  and  a  call  for  help 
in  defense  should  be  sent  across  the  lands  of  the  Arab 


1 14  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

and  the  Bedouin  over  Mesopotamia  to  India  and  China 
and  Japan,  it  might  arouse  the  whole  East  against  the 
West. 

Worse  than  this,  however,  is  the  conflict  of  religions 
which  is  so  intense,  around  Jerusalem  in  particular, 
that  even  the  most  casual  visitor  comments  upon  its 
peril  inside  of  twenty-four  hours  after  arrival.  It  is  to 
be  remembered  that  here  the  three  world  religions  have 
their  most  sacred  high  places :  Christianity,  Judaism, 
and  Islam,  for  the  Mohammedans  are  now  making 
about  as  much  of  Jerusalem  as  they  do  of  the  famous 
Mecca.  The  tension  is  fierce,  for  after  some  fashion 
they  each  believe  that  dominating  Jerusalem  and  Pales¬ 
tine  is  essential  to  world  power,  and  of  those  active 
there  now  every  one  is  thirsting  for  world  political 
dominion  by  the  route  of  religion.  The  people  who 
sincerely  hope  for  a  free  religious  faith  based  upon  lib¬ 
erty  ought  not  to  be  deceived  upon  this  point.  This 
is  the  Jerusalem  struggle  right  now. 

First  in  severity  of  hatred  probably  come  the  Mo¬ 
hammedans,  who  are  suffering  under  the  sting  of  the 
humiliation  which  came  when  in  1916  Lord  Allenby 
marched  in  through  the  Jaffa  Gate.  For  the  present 
moment  they  seem  to  be  centering  their  attack  upon  the 
Jews,  but  that  is  probably  only  because  they  fear  the 
Jews  most,  not  because  they  would  be  more  friendly 
towards  the  Christians.  They  believe  that  God  meant 
this  to  be  Mohammed’s  country,  and  that  it  is  the  link 
to  connect  them  with  the  Sultan  in  Turkey  and  the  70,- 
000,000  of  their  kind  in  India.  The  Crusaders  had 
no  deeper  fire  burning  in  their  bosoms  than  the  desire 
of  Mohammedans  to  exterminate  the  Jew. 

Then  comes  the  Jew,  fired  by  the  prophecies  ex- 


PALESTINE 


ii5 

pressed  in  England  in  1918  that  at  last  the  Hebrew 
people  were  again  to  be  gathered  to  Palestine  and  be  a 
nation  among  the  other  powers.  They  look  upon  these 
Mohammedans  and  Christians  as  trespassers  and  usurp¬ 
ers  and  fit  only  to  be  driven  out  as  cattle.  Whatever 
may  have  been  the  sincerity  of  the  early  Zionist  move¬ 
ment  so  far  as  Palestine  is  concerned,  it  seems  to  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  those  who  have  lost,  if  indeed 
they  ever  had,  any  religious  purpose  in  coming  back  to 
the  soil  of  their  fathers.  The  weight  of  the  evidence 
I  heard  would  indicate  that  during  the  riots  of  two 
years  earlier  they  slaughtered  Arabs  in  the  street  as 
the  Turks  have  been  slaughtering  the  Armenians. 

Then  come  the  Christians.  To  be  perfectly  honest 
and  not  to  be  misleading,  I  venture  to  suggest  that  the 
Protestant  Christians  are  not  included  in  this  state¬ 
ment.  Neither  do  I  wish  to  infer  that  all  the  com¬ 
munions  involved  in  this  complication  are  of  the  same 
stamp,  or  would  countenance  what  occurs  inside  many 
of  these  sacred  spots.  I  am  only  trying  to  give  an 
actual  picture  of  what  a  debasing  demonstration  is 
being  given,  particularly  inside  the  walls  of  old  Jeru¬ 
salem,  by  the  self-styled  Christians. 

Among  these  Christians  there  remains  the  old  ani¬ 
mosity  and  fear  of  the  Moslem.  At  the  close  range  of 
church  and  mosque  standing  side  by  side  in  scores  of 
cases,  one  may  imagine  what  the  pressure  is  at  times; 
but  also  the  fact  that  practically  all  of  the  great  show 
mosques  were  formerly  either  Latin  or  Greek  Catholic 
churches  gives  cause  for  friction.  The  Mosque  of 
Omar,  upon  the  site  of  Solomon’s  Temple,  was  built  as 
a  Roman  Catholic  church,  and  is  a  daily  exasperating 
memory  to  the  Christians  now.  But  this  is  mild,  con- 


n6  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


trasted  with  their  zeal  to  abolish  the  Jew  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  If  he  is  recognized,  he  cannot  put 
his  foot  inside  a  church  or  mosque.  At  the  great 
Mosque  of  Hebron,  which  covers  the  tomb  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  under  great  pressure  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans  have  permitted  the  Jews,  one  day  a  week,  to  come 
up  seven  steps  out  of  about  fifty  in  the  street  leading  up 
to  the  entrance.  So  far  as  these  general  divisions  are 
concerned,  the  only  sign  of  any  common  interest  dis¬ 
covered  is  that  it  would  seem  as  though  these  Christians 
and  the  Mohammedans  might  temporarily  unite,  if  they 
thought  by  so  doing  they  could  drive  all  the  Jews  into 
the  Mediterranean  or  Dead  Sea. 

But  this  is  not  the  saddest  part  of  this  silent  re¬ 
ligious  warfare  which  is  going  on  amid  these  hallowed 
scenes.  The  hatred  between  the  Latin  Catholic,  the 
Greek  Orthodox,  and  the  Armenian  sects  is  about  as 
bitter  as  between  the  Jews  and  the  Moslems.  The 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  held  jointly  by  all 
three,  and  soldiers  are  on  guard  to  keep  them  from 
fighting.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Church  of  the 
Nativity,  which  marks  the  place  of  the  birth  of  Christ 
at  Bethlehem.  When  I  got  down  to  the  supposed  place 
in  the  stable  where  the  Savior  was  born,  and  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  place  where  the  manger  was  in  which 
the  baby  was  cradled,  I  noticed  a  big,  well-armed  Mo¬ 
hammedan  soldier  standing  between  the  two  spots, 
and  when  I  asked  the  guide  why  this  guard  was  needed 
in  such  a  holy  place  he  replied,  “They  have  to  keep 
him  here  to  prevent  the  Latins,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Armenians  from  fighting  when  they  come  down  here.” 
A  beautiful  golden  star  is  nailed  in  the  rock  which  is 
supposed  to  mark  the  place  of  birth.  In  some  strange 


PALESTINE 


ii  7 

manner  one  of  the  nails  was  taken.  If  the  truth  were 
known,  it  was  probably  stolen  by  some  crazy  American 
tourist.  They  would  carry  the  Jordan  away  if  it  were 
loose.  However,  the  warring  sects  did  finally  agree  on 
the  selection  of  a  nail  to  replace  the  missing  one,  but 
could  not  agree  upon  who  should  drive  it  back  in  place. 
After  a  long  controversy  they  finally  permitted  the 
Turkish  Government  to  have  it  done  by  a  “Gypsy,”  who 
was  supposed  to  have  no  religion  and  therefore  to  be  a 
neutral. 

Repeatedly  I  heard  people  say,  “We  shall  be  glad 
when  Easter  is  over  and  gone.”  To  one  taught  to  love 
Easter  morning,  with  its  songs  of  resurrection  hopes, 
its  flowers  and  music,  this  seemed  sacrilegious.  But  it 
was  understood  when  we  were  told  that  this  is  the  usual 
day  of  riot,  when  these  sects  fight  for  preeminence  in 
the  streets.  I  met  a  British  officer  on  the  road  with  a 
big  army  truck,  who  confidentially  told  one  of  our 
party  that  he  had  just  taken  a  load  of  the  most  radical 
of  one  of  the  sects  out  to  a  detention  camp  where  they 
were  to  be  kept  over  Easter  as  a  protection  against  riots. 

I  read  a  column  article  in  a  daily  newspaper  in  Cairo 
commending  the  British  Government  for  its  great  wis¬ 
dom  in  preparing  against  outbreaks  in  Jerusalem  dur¬ 
ing  the  feast  of  the  Passover  and  Easter.  A  graphic 
description  was  given  of  the  military  precautions.  An 
armored  truck  had  been  stationed  at  the  Jaffa  Gate, 
soldiers  were  to  be  kept  night  and  day  patrolling  upon 
the  walls,  and  the  inside  guard  was  to  be  doubled. 
What  a  travesty  upon  the  day  of  days  in  the  year  when 
all  men  ought  to  think  kindly  of  each  other,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  followers  of  Him  whose  resurrection 
from  the  grave  was  to  be  celebrated ! 


n8  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


Jesus  stood  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  wept  two 
thousand  years  ago :  surely  He  must  weep  now  to  wit¬ 
ness  that  kind  of  life  among  those  who  profess  to  be 
His  followers.  History  records  the  terror  of  religious 
wars,  and  unless  all  signs  fail  there  are  possibilities  of 
an  explosion  among  these  warring  factions  which 
would  spread  to  many  parts  of  the  world  where  the 
same  animosities  exist  upon  a  smaller  scale.  No 
thoughtful,  well-informed  man  can  doubt  what  is  in 
the  heart  of  the  Moslems.  I  met  and  talked  personally 
with  a  splendid  young  American  missionary  and  his 
wife  who  had  just  been  driven  out  of  their  field,  twen¬ 
ty-five  miles  east  of  the  Jordan,  at  the  hands  of  the 
Moslems,  and  their  schools  and  missions  broken  up  be¬ 
cause  these  folks  will  not  tolerate  interference  at  any 
point  where  they  hold  sway.  Many  of  its  adherents 
are  doubtless  devout,  sincere,  God-fearing  men,  but 
fundamentally  that  faith  is  set  for  political  dominion 
and  would  act  promptly  and  violently  at  any  moment 
of  provocation  and  hope  of  success.  Turkey,  Persia, 
Egypt,  Mesopotamia,  Arabia,  and  India  could  quickly 
become  involved.  This  quarrel  among  the  Palestinian 
Christians  is  to  them  a  good  omen  and  they  are  doing 
all  in  their  power  to  encourage  it  as  a  part  of  the  utter 
collapse  of  their  competitors  in  this  part  of  the  world. 
Palestine  furnishes  just  the  right  kind  of  a  religious 
foment  to  be  the  genesis  of  such  an  outbreak. 

Summing  it  all  up,  Palestine  seems  to  be  living  under 
an  armed  truce.  Never  in  any  country  in  the  same 
length  of  time  in  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  time  of 
peace  have  I  ever  seen  so  many  men  carrying  rifles. 
Nearly  all  of  the  Arabs  one  meets,  riding  their  wonder¬ 
ful  horses,  have  guns  swung  over  their  backs.  Every 


PALESTINE 


1 19 

Bedouin  camp  has  shooting  weapons  in  good  view. 
Many  of  the  police  go  around,  not  with  the  usual  club, 
but  rather  a  regulation  army  carbine.  There  is  a  sort 
of  an  undercurrent  which  suggests  that  trouble  is  ahead. 

Quietly,  however,  behind  all  the  scenes  is  the  British 
Government,  with  men  of  high  character  at  the  helm. 
I  met  the  second  most  influential  man  in  the  official 
family,  Sir  Wyndham  Deedes,  and  felt  a  sense  of  hope 
for  the  future  in  just  the  presence  of  such  a  man  at 
such  an  hour  in  the  history  of  Palestine.  Hearing  from 
many  of  the  changes  wrought  in  Jerusalem  since  the 
British  mandate,  I  was  to  a  degree  reconciled  to  that 
part  of .  the  war  which  was  necessary  to  give  re¬ 
ligious  and  political  liberty  to  the  people  of  these  sacred 
hills. 

In  the  fifth  place ,  I  was  impressed  by  the  utter  failure 
of  the  religions  of  Jerusalem  to  produce  peace ,  brother¬ 
hood,  or  good  will.  Later  reference  will  be  made  to 
what  the  men  of  many  walks  of  life  and  types  of  peo¬ 
ple  are  saying  about  the  need  of  a  great  spiritual,  moral, 
religious  awakening  as  the  only  sure  guarantee  of  end¬ 
ing  war.  It  has  become  so  common  to  hear  this  that 
its  repetition  is  almost  a  platitude.  But  it  must  be 
acknowledged  that  the  Jerusalem  religions  have  not  pro¬ 
duced  this  result  and  give  no  promise  that  upon  their 
present  basis  they  ever  will  do  so.  I  wandered  through 
the  zones  of  Buddhism,  Confucianism,  and  Hinduism 
and  never  felt  led  to  say  they  were  utter  failures  in 
doing  something  for  the  brotherhood  of  man.  But 
of  this  conglomeration  in  Jerusalem  there  is  no  hesi¬ 
tancy  in  saying  they  have  failed  utterly  and  absolutely 
to  add  one  impulse  to  this  great  human  need  of  friend¬ 
ship  and  brotherly  love.  They  have  done  worse — they 


120  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


have  been  breeders  of  hate  and  advance  agents  of  pos¬ 
sible  wars. 

I  hope  I  am  wrong,  but  as  the  train  pulled  away  and 
I  saw  that  beautiful  city  on  the  mountain,  with  its 
domes,  towers,  and  minarets,  fade  away  I  felt  as 
though,  from  the  standpoint  of  peace  on  earth  and 
brotherhood,  Jerusalem  and  Palestine  would  be  better 
off  by  far  if  the  whole  lot  of  them  were  cleared  out,  bag 
and  baggage.  Singing,  chanting,  praying,  bowing 
down,  wearing  long  mysterious  robes,  and  making  signs 
inside  police-guarded  walls  is  a  big  sham,  while  the 
people  outside  are  sick,  blind,  dirty,  ignorant,  and  hat¬ 
ing  each  other  to  death.  I  refuse  to  believe  this  is  what 
Jesus  came  to  leave  as  the  faith  to  be  called  by  His 
name.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  was  forced  to 
believe  that,  af  least  in  this  spot,  false  religion  is  worse 
than  no  religion. 

The  leaders  of  the  World  Alliance  of  Churches  for 
International  Friendship  and  other  peace  societies  have 
been  sending  a  good  many  petitions  and  addresses  to 
parliaments  and  public  officials,  and  that  is  all  well 
enough,  but  greater  is  the  imperative  necessity  of  cul¬ 
tivating  a  Christian  clientele  in  the  world  which  will 
truly  exemplify  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corin¬ 
thians,  the  fourth  chapter  of  First  John  and  the  “Great 
Commandment.” 


CHAPTER  XI 


CONSTANTINOPLE 

The  Danger  Zone  of  a  Religions  World  War 

THE  zone  of  Constantinople  had  to  be  reached, 
really  to  find  the  answer  to  a  series  of  perplex¬ 
ing  questions  with  which  I  had  found  myself 
confronted  for  a  good  many  weeks.  I  had  been  feel¬ 
ing  a  new  set  of  irritating  vibrations  which  were  dif¬ 
ferent  from  those  in  Japan,  China,  and  South  India. 
The  earlier  causes  of  unrest  and  dissatisfaction  met  in 
the  Orient  were  at  least  understandable.  They  could 
be  reduced  to  language.  They  could  be  partially  found 
out  by  asking  direct  questions  and  getting  direct  an¬ 
swers.  But  the  new  set,  first  met  in  North  India, 
seemed  shrouded  in  great  mystery.  They  were  not  to 
be  talked  of  in  the  open.  They  belonged  exclusively 
to  the  special  order  of  inside  confidential  agents.  Only 
once  was  I  able  to  get  a  comment  which  seemed  to  be 
at  all  frank  upon  this  subject.  While  in  North  India 
where  this  new  impulse  first  began  to  be  felt,  one 
Britisher  whose  office  would  seem  to  suggest  knowl¬ 
edge,  said  to  me — when  the  famous  telegram  went  out 
of  Delhi  from  the  Government  of  India  to  the  Govern¬ 
ment  of  London,  demanding  that  Constantinople  and 
the  Turkish  Government  be  put  upon  a  sort  of  ‘‘As 
you  were”  basis,  or  practically  a  pre-war  platform — 

121 


122  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


“The  Moslem  religion  is  at  the  bottom  of  that.”  With 
this  one  exception,  while  many  there  seemed  anxious, 
and  all  felt  that  strange  new  influences  were  beginning 
to  work,  nobody  had  a  strong  idea  of  what  was  under¬ 
neath,  or  if  they  had,  they  very  much  preferred  to 
keep  silent. 

When  I  got  to  Egypt,  there  remained  no  doubt  but 
that  the  recent  events  there  had  some  peculiar  relation 
to  the  North  India  affair,  and  yet  the  men  I  met  mostly 
talked  away  from  the  suggestion  that  there  might  be  a 
far-off  genesis  of  causes,  quite  different  from  the  ones 
reported  in  the  local  papers.  In  other  words,  the  resi¬ 
dents  in  and  around  Cairo  either  did  not  wish  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  there  was  collusion  in  these  events  between 
India  and  Egypt,  or  felt  it  more  prudent  not  to  discuss 
the  situation.  But  to  the  traveler,  the  vibrations 
sounded  exceedingly  similar. 

Jerusalem  was  another  step  nearer,  more  pronounced 
in  evidence,  that  the  Britisher’s  blunt  remark  in  India 
was  probably  the  statement  of  actual  fact.  But  the  ele¬ 
ment  of  doubt  was  fairly  well  removed  by  a  part  of  a 
day  in  ancient  Athens  in  a  conference  with  the  leaders 
of  the  World  Alliance  of  Churches  for  International 
Friendship  in  Greece.  I  was  taken  from  the  ship  and 
quickly  driven  a  considerable  distance  to  an  orphanage, 
where,  by  the  way,  a  brass  band  of  about  forty  boys 
struck  up  “The  Star  Spangled  Banner”  as  I  entered 
the  building.  After  months  of  long  absences  from 
home,  and  more  or  less  wearied  by  travel  and  attempts 
to  find  sufficient  ground  upon  which  to  base  hope  of 
permanent  friendship  among  nations,  that  music 
sounded  more  magnificent  to  me  than  anything  I  ever 
heard  in  grand  opera,  or  rendered  by  Sousa  or  the 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


123 


United  States  Marine  Band.  If  I  had  not  been  in  the 
presence  of  Greek  art,  literature,  and  philosophy,  I 
would  have  exclaimed,  “Ain’t  it  a  grand  and  glori¬ 
ous  feeling?”  The  memories  stirred  by  that  music 
on  that  day  in  that  place  were  a  good  tonic  for  the 
experience  to  follow.  Greece  was  at  war  with  the 
Turk  and  I  was  again  in  a  land  where  the  soldiers  were 
being  called  up,  and  the  government  centering  all  its 
powers  to  prosecute  military  movements;  taxes  were 
being  levied  to  the  limit,  and  a  forced  loan  had  just 
been  put  through,  by  which  all  the  currency  had  been 
cut  in  two  and  one  half  held  as  bonds  for  war  measures. 

In  a  conference  with  men,  said  to  be  as  well  informed 
as  any  in  the  nation,  their  statement  of  the  fundamen¬ 
tal  issue  seemed  to  confirm  the  earlier  suspicions  that 
Mohammedanism  was  bestirring  itself  again  for  terri¬ 
torial  advance.  These  men  said  it  was  a  war  with 
the  Turk,  pure  and  simple,  for  control  of  the  Dardan¬ 
elles,  the  Bosphorus,  and  Constantinople  as  a  base,  and 
then  on  to  the  rest  of  the  contested  territory.  Nothing 
could  seem  sadder  than  this  situation  here,  amid  the 
glorious  scenes  of  ancient  Greece,  which  might  even 
now  be  the  center  of  the  world’s  learning  and  supreme 
culture,  had  not  wars  wrecked  it  generation  after  gen¬ 
eration.  Only  a  little  way  and  there  were  Thermopylae 
and  Marathon.  Yonder  was  the  hill  where  Xerxes  sat 
in  his  golden  chair  and  watched  his  fleet  fight  to  death 
for  the  /Egzan  Sea.  Alexander  the  Great  had  fought 
as  no  other  had  ever  done  to  make  this  spot  perpetually 
great.  I  climbed  the  Acropolis  and  stood  amid  the 
ruins  of  the  Parthenon  and  looked  down  over  Mars 
hill  where  St.  Paul  preached  the  Christian  Gospel  as 
an  answer  to  the  hope  which  built  the  altar  to  “an  Un- 


124  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

known  God/’  The  wisdom  of  Socrates,  the  oratory  of 
Demosthenes,  the  theology  of  Paul,  and  the  soldiers  of 
Alexander,  all  combined,  had  not  freed  Greece  from 
war  or  kept  her  great.  Again  she  was  passing  through 
the  agony  of  armed  struggle,  this  time  with  the  des¬ 
perate  Turk. 

I  got  one  step  nearer  yet,  however,  by  a  day’s  stop 
in  Smyrna.  Here  was  the  seat  of  one  of  the  worthy 
churches  of  John’s  vision.  Yet  we  were  met  at  every 
look  by  soldiers,  soldiers,  and  a  harbor  full  of  war¬ 
ships — not  Greek  only,  but  of  many  nations,  ready  to 
take  their  various  subjects  “to  places  of  safety  if  any¬ 
thing  happened/’  so  one  officer  told  me.  I  asked  an¬ 
other  man  who  -seemed  to  be  in  a  position  to  know  the 
facts,  what  this  war  really  was  about,  and  without  hesi¬ 
tancy  he  said,  “Several  minor  questions,  but  one  real 
one:  it  is  the  Turks  fighting  to  rid  the  country  of 
Christians.”  As  the  children  say  when  playing  hide 
and  seek,  “I  knew  I  was  getting  ‘hotter/  ”  These  vi¬ 
brations  which  were  felt  first  in  North  India  and  then 
more  forcibly  as  I  journeyed  through  the  Arabian  Sea, 
the  Suez  Canal,  in  Egypt  and  Palestine,  were  becoming 
intelligible  as  I  got  into  actual  Greek  territory  at  the 
capital,  Athens,  and  in  Smyrna. 

But  all  disguise  was  eliminated  when  we  sailed 
through  the  Dardanelles,  of  such  sad  memory  to  the 
British  in  1916,  and  on  to  Constantinople.  Open,  free 
shop  talk  explained  what  the  unadulterated  issue  was, 
involving  everything  from  Adrianople  in  the  Balkans 
to  India.  Constantinople  is  the  radiating  pivot  from 
which  the  rumblings  are  being  sent  out,  and  there  is  no 
reluctance  upon  the  part  of  public  men  to  say  it  is  a 
demand  for  a  pan-Moslem  control  from  the  Danube  to 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


125 


the  Ganges.  This  is  the  area  over  which  the  Moham¬ 
medans  are  a  very  considerable  part  of  the  entire  popu¬ 
lation  and  in  most  of  it  a  decided  majority.  Just  now, 
in  open  speeches  and  newspaper  articles,  they  are  de¬ 
manding  the  territory  from  Adrianople  to  the  Arabian 
Sea,  but  not  one  informed  man  believed  they  would  be 
content  with  that  area  for  five  years,  even  if  it  were 
granted  to  them. 

Constantinople  has  been  the  center  of  envy,  strife, 
and  war  between  different  factions,  races,  and  nations 
for  over  two  thousand  years,  and  while  some  govern¬ 
ments  have  survived  for  hundreds  of  years,  none  of 
them  have  known  a  period  of  ten  years  without  having 
to  resist  enemies.  It  has  been  one  of  the  world  centers 
of  continuous  struggle.  Constantine  undoubtedly 
thought  when  he  rebuilt  and  enlarged  the  city,  and  sur¬ 
rounded  it  with  impressive  walls,  only  second  to  the 
Great  Wall  of  China,  that  he  had  erected  a  perpetual 
defense,  in  remembrance  of  which  his  son  built  the 
beautiful  St.  Sophia  as  a  Christian  cathedral.  But 
the  Turks  battered  down  the  walls,  sacked  the  city  and 
transformed  St.  Sophia  and  all  the  rest  of  the  ancient 
churches  into  mosques.  Nobody  seemed  to  know  how 
many  mosques  there  are  in  the  city,  probably  three  or 
four  hundred. 

To-day  the  Allied  High  Commissioners  representing 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy  are  supposed  to  be  in 
control,  but  the  impression  is  general  that  they  all 
have  their  ears  to  the  ground  to  know  what  the  Turk 
wants  and  to  be  sure  not  to  give  him  offense.  One  high 
American  official  said  to  me,  “One  thing  is  sure,  the 
Turkish  Government  is  coming  back  to  Constantinople 
and  the  best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  accept  the  situation 


126  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


without  protest.”  I  do  not  profess  to  have  wisdom 
enough  to  state  arbitrarily  what  this  event  means,  but 
I  do  feel  certain  of  some  facts  upon  which  all  the 
people  I  met  are  agreed.  They  are  submitted  not  as 
personal  conclusions,  but  as  the  mind  of  practically  all 
those  with  whom  I  came  in  contact.  Leaving  final 
judgment  of  the  merits  of  the  questions  involved  to 
later  knowledge,  to  be  gained  as  actual  experience  re¬ 
veals  all  the  hidden  complications,  the  present  move¬ 
ments  for  peace  and  harmony  must  take  account  of  the 
following  facts.  The  writer  will  be  glad  beyond  ex¬ 
pression  if  the  passing  years  prove  that  these  witnesses 
were  mistaken,  and  that  unseen  influences  are  at  work 
which  will  produce  results  better  than  those  which  seem 
now  to  be  inevitable.  The  conclusions  presented  are 
based  upon  the  theory  that,  if  they  are  correct,  it  is  far 
wiser  to  state  them  now  for  whatever  value  they  may 
have,  rather  than  to  keep  silent  now  and  later  wish 
they  had  been  recorded. 

Fact  Number  i:  All  are  agreed  that  the  Turk  is  in 
the  midst  of  a  tremendous  reassertion  of  his  power 
and  prestige.  Whether  he  is  warranted  or  not  in  his 
conclusions,  he  believes  his  hour  of  opportunity  has 
come.  In  January,  1919,  the  Turk  was  on  his  knees, 
begging  for  a  crumb  from  the  table  of  the  Allies.  He 
was  bankrupt,  and  without  an  army  worth  counting, 
and  had  no  friends.  He  was  ready  then  to  accept  any 
terms.  The  Allies  were  generous  and  gave  the  gov¬ 
ernment  some  small  territory  and  a  chance  to  keep  a 
semblance  of  national  unity.  But  mandates  granted 
to  four  leading  powers  and  the  International  Allied 
Commission  at  Constantinople  did  not  seem  to  leave 
much  to  be  proud  of  or  upon  which  to  base  any  expec- 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


127 


tations  for  the  future.  All  the  world  looked  on  and  felt 
that  at  last  the  end  of  a  terrible  story  had  come  and  that 
the  Turk’s  power  was  permanently  broken  and  the 
menace  removed.  Once  before  in  1912,  this  same 
hope  had  been  cherished,  only  to  be  shattered  when  the 
Balkan  States  after  a  great  victory  fell  to  quarreling 
among  themselves  and  the  Turks,  although  circum¬ 
scribed,  remained  a  menace  to  the  peace  of  Europe. 

But  the  evolution  of  the  after-adjustments  of  a  great 
war  seems  again  to  be  making  strange  new  alliances, 
and  none  so  mysterious  as  the  change  of  front  by 
several  of  the  Allies  towards  the  Ottoman  power.  The 
American  Government  refused  a  mandate  over  any  of 
this  territory,  France  made  a  gesture  as  though  she 
would  accept  responsibility,  but  no  sooner  did  she  do  so 
than  her  armies  began  to  withdraw  and  have  practically 
evacuated  the  whole  of  what  she  promised  to  protect 
and  administer.  Some  are  uncharitable  enough  to  say 
the  French  are  withdrawing  to  protect  large  loans  they 
have  made  to  the  Angora  Government.  Others  are 
saying  it  is  to  get  all  the  army  ready  for  the  march 
to  Berlin.  Whatever  the  facts,  they  have  turned  most 
of  the  territory  back  to  the  Mohammedans.  Italy  never 
did  anything  serious  about  it. 

Now  Britain  is  exceedingly  courteous  to  the  Turk. 
This  changed  British  attitude  was  hinted  at  by  Field 
Marshal  Sir  Henry  Wilson  M.P.  in  his  interview  re¬ 
ported  in  the  Paris  edition  of  the  Daily  Mail,  May  3, 
1922.  In  commenting  upon  Mr.  Lloyd  George’s  blun¬ 
der  in  advising  the  Greeks  to  go  into  Smyrna,  he  said, 
“We  shall  never  get  peace  in  Palestine  or  Mesopotamia 
or  Egypt  or  India  until  we  make  love  to  the  Turks.  It 
may  be  very  immoral,  but  it  is  a  fact.” 


128  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Greece  has  failed  to  hold  what  she  had  twelve 
months  ago,  and  is  being  advised  by  the  Allies  to  with¬ 
draw  from  Smyrna.  The  result  is  that  the  Turks  think 
everybody  is  afraid  of  them. 

Demands  now  being  made,  similar  to  those  pathetic 
requests  of  1919  which  were  promptly  refused,  are  be¬ 
ing  considered,  modified  a  little,  and  granted.  It  is 
not  strange,  in  view  of  this  situation,  that  these  Mos¬ 
lems  have  their  heads  up  high,  their  hopes  renewed, 
and  are  full  of  confidence  that  they  will  soon  be  in  full 
possession  of  all  their  1914  territory.  Whether  they4 
are  justified  in  this  assumption  is  a  question  no  one  I 
met  could  satisfactorily  answer.  But  with  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  the  United  States  all  salaaming  and 
bowing  to  them,  that  they  are  reasserting  their  old  atti¬ 
tude  as  dictators,  no  one  entertained  any  doubt.  Con¬ 
stantinople  talk  was  filled  with  this  impression.  The 
Turk  has  changed  in  a  few  months  from  being  a  poor, 
beaten,  suppliant  asking  for  mercy,  to  a  domineering, 
arrogant,  confident  egotist,  naming  terms  to  everybody 
in  sight.  This  significant  new  attitude  is  enough  to 
make  all  those  familiar  with  Turkish  history  wonder 
what  the  future  of  that  part  of  the  world  is  to  be. 

Fact  Number  2:  Every  man,  woman,  and  child  I 
talked  to,  of  those  who  are  familiar  with  anything  in 
the  past,  said  without  hesitation  that  the  stories  of  the 
atrocities,  the  massacres,  and  the  terrific  persecutions 
of  the  Christians  by  the  Turks  were  true. 

I  came  into  this  zone  determined  to  know  for  my¬ 
self  to  what  degree  these  accounts  were  to  be  dis¬ 
counted.  I  remembered  that  the  early  winter  of  1918 
had  proved  that  the  stories  of  German  atrocities  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  had  been  very  highly  colored  and 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


129 


exaggerated,  and  I  felt  that  the  same  might  be  true  of 
the  incidents  so  commonly  reported  of  the  treatment  of 
the  Armenians  by  the  Moslems.  I  was  amazed  at  the 
unanimity  with  which  absolutely  all  of  those  I  met 
said  those  statements  were  correct.  The  Turks  did 
massacre  whole  villages.  They  did  take  as  captive 
slaves  young  women  and  girls.  They  did  drive  them 
by  thousands  into  the  desert  to  die.  They  did  carry 
on  a  determined  plan  to  eliminate  the  Christians  from 
their  territory.  They  have  almost  succeeded  in  exter¬ 
minating  the  Armenian  nation.  Of  five  millions  who 
were  in  that  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire  in  1910,  only 
a  million  of  a  scattered  remnant  remain  in  Anatolia, 
and  the  promised  independent  Armenian  nation  is  a 
wreck,  overrun  by  Bolsheviks  on  one  side  and  Turks 
on  the  other.  Some  have  fled  to  Europe,  some  to 
America,  and  some  to  other  parts  of  the  world.  But 
the  fact  of  the  method  is  verified  by  everybody  with 
whom  I  came  in  contact.  These  actual  incidents  must 
be  known  to  such  governments  as  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain,  France,  Italy  and  Germany,  and  will 
form  the  basis  of  the  most  fearful  indictment  of  these 
so-called  Christian  powers,  when  in  later  years  the 
historians  appraise  the  true  values  of  the  twentieth 
century.  For  myself  I  was  astounded  at  the  calm  an¬ 
swer  I  got  everywhere.  “Oh  yes,  those  reports  are 
true/’  My  inquiries  were  not  confined  to  missionaries 
and  Christian  workers,  but  included  some  business 
men,  several  officials  of  three  different  nations,  and 
some  educationalists  who  were  making  investigations 
for  historical  purposes. 

I  was  able  to  get  only  two  comments  which  would 
even  modify  the  viciousness  of  the  crime  committed. 


130  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

One  was  the  suggestion  that  there  had  been  other  atro¬ 
cities  committed  in  the  world.  Even  the  one  or  two 
who  advanced  this  argument  agreed  that  the  others  did 
not  approach  these  either  in  the  methods  used,  the 
lives  involved,  or  the  term  of  years  during  which  this 
plan  of  organized  murder  had  been  carried  on. 

A  second  theory  was  given  by  an  American  official, 
and  was  spoken  of  as  calmly  as  though  he  was  reporting 
the  topic  of  a  recent  prayermeeting.  He  said:  “Yes, 
the  stories  of  the  massacres  are  true;  they  did  occur, 
but  you  must  remember  that  these  Turks  do  not  have 
the  same  ideas  upon  this  question  as  we  hold.  They 
have  been  trained  to  this  method  and  do  not  hesitate 
to  kill;  it  is  not  a  serious  offense  in  their  eyes.”  I  do 
not  know  that  his  soothing,  extenuating  idea  would  be 
much  of  a  consolation  to  the  bones  of  the  skeletons  in 
the  desert,  to  the  tattooed  slave  girls  of  the  harems,  to 
the  remnants  of  families  separated  and  driven  apart 
forever,  or  to  the  remaining  half  dead  waiting  for  the 
end,  but  he  sat  in  his  easy  chair  and  offered  it  as  a 
very  satisfying  argument  to  himself. 

I  followed  this  same  trail  of  blood  through  Bulgaria, 
where  people’s  memory  is  vivid  of  this  policy  when 
they  were  under  Turkish  power.  The  same  sad  wounds 
remain  in  Serbia  and  Hungary.  All  the  way  to  the 
gates  of  Vienna  the  footprints  of  the  Turk  are  marked 
by  ruthless  slaughter  of  men,  women,  and  children  who 
dared  to  worship  Christ. 

Whatever  may  be  the  secret  purposes  or  whatever 
may  be  the  future,  the  record  of  the  Turk  as  the  su¬ 
preme  murderer  of  the  last  fifteen  hundred  years  stands 
undisputed  by  the  best  witnesses  in  the  area  of  Con¬ 
stantinople.  With  this  background  of  history  and  the 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


131 

new  revival  of  Turkish  hopes  for  political  power,  there 
is  abundant  reason  for  great  anxiety  as  to  what  life 
for  the  Christians  is  yet  to  be  in  the  Near  East. 

Fact  Number  3:  Practically  all  agreed  that  there  is 
no  sufficient  evidence  that  the  reinstated  Turk  will  be 
any  different  than  the  Turk  of  twenty-five  or  fifty  or 
five  hundred  years  ago.  Sad  as  the  older  story  is,  and 
in  the  face  of  a  nearly  unanimous  opinion  that  this 
reinstatement  is  inevitable,  I  felt  it  most  important  to 
know  whether  the  future  would  be  better  than  the 
past.  This  question  was  urged  upon  every  type  and 
kind  of  a  man  or  woman  with  whom  I  could  get  an 
interview.  These  included  American  and  British  offi¬ 
cials,  college  presidents  and  professors,  highest  eccle¬ 
siastical  authorities  of  Greek  Orthodox,  Armenian,  and 
Protestant  churches,  editors  of  papers  and  periodicals, 
secular  and  religious,  commercial  men,  welfare  and  re¬ 
lief  workers,  missionaries  and  public  officials  of  the 
Turkish  Government.  One  or  two  evaded  the  ques¬ 
tion.  One  American  said  he  thought  the  new  regime 
might  be  better,  but  was  not  sure.  All  the  rest  with 
deep  feeling  said  they  saw  no  reason  to  expect  any¬ 
thing  different  in  the  future  from  what  had  happened 
in  the  past.  No  evidence  could  be  found  that  there 
was  any  change  in  heart  or  mind  among  the  ruling  Mos¬ 
lems.  The  name  of  Moustafa  Kemal,  who  is  the  real 
brains  of  the  revived  government,  is  as  much  dreaded 
as  that  of  any  Sultan  or  ruler  of  the  past.  Some  sug¬ 
gested  that  the  procedure  might  be  a  little  more  politic 
than  the  older  one,  but  that  the  purpose  would  be  the 
same.  “Deporting  for  military  purposes”  seems  to  be 
the  more  elegant  recent  method  rather  than  direct  kill¬ 
ing.  Some  felt  very  clearly  that  the  new  order  would 


132  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

be  worse  than  the  old.  One  great  church  leader  in 
making  this  statement  said:  “In  the  old  days,  the 
Turks  were  a  little  afraid  of  what  the  United  States 
or  Great  Britain  might  do ;  now  they  are  not  afraid  of 
anybody  and  will  rule  with  terror.”  Some  officers  of 
Christian  movements  and  institutions  which  had  sur¬ 
vived  the  old  persecutions  and  the  war  period,  thought 
it  highly  probable  that  they  would  have  to  withdraw 
if  the  Turkish  rule  came  back  animated  by  its  present 
spirit  of  power. 

Those  who  see  no  prospect  for  anything  better  in  the 
future  base  their  views  largely  upon  happenings  in  the 
territories  where  the  Turks  have  been  reinstated.  The 
missionaries  have  all  practically  been  driven  to  the  sea- 
coast  ports,  where  foreign  elements  are  still  in  control. 
A  few  remain  in  the  interior,  but  nine  out  of  ten  have 
been  forced  to  flee.  The  refugees  were  arriving  while 
I  was  in  Constantinople  from  Syria,  Cilicia,  Aleppo, 
and  Smyrna  with  fearful  tales  of  suffering  and  perse¬ 
cution.  The  highest  authority  of  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Church  told  me  he  was  sure  800,000  Greeks  in  Smyrna 
would  die,  if  the  Allies  compelled  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Greek  army  there.  He  said:  “It  is  not  a  choice 
of  life  or  death  with  them;  it  is  only  a  choice  of  what 
kind  of  death  they  prefer.  To  remain  will  mean  death 
by  the  hand  of  the  Turk  in  some  form;  to  try  to  get 
away  means  death  by  starvation  as  they  go.”  The 
politicians  may  sit  by  and  view  the  come-back  of  the 
old  Ottoman  political  power  with  complacency,  but 
those  Christians  who  must  either  live  under  that  regime 
or  get  away  view  it  with  sickening  alarm.  With  the 
Turk  filled  with  delight  that  he  is  again  a  force  in  the 
political  world,  and  with  an  apparent  certainty  that 


133 


CONSTANTINOPLE 

his  government  is  to  be  again  established  as  before 
the  war,  and  with  the  evidence  seeming  to  indicate  that 
the  new  order  will  be  no  better  than  the  old,  peace 
advocates  cannot  but  look  upon  Constantinople  as  a 
center  from  which  disturbing  elements  may  become  so 
pronounced  as  to  upset  the  whole  Near  and  Far  East 
at  least. 

I  have  a  copy  of  a  long  editorial  written  by  Aka 
Kountouz  one  of  the  high  tempered  Nationalists  and 
which  appeared  in  the  Kemalist  newspaper  of  Angora, 
the  Peyam  Sabah ,  under  date  of  January  13,  1922. 
The  whole  article  is  a  terrific  attack  upon  the  Govern¬ 
ment  of  Great  Britain  and  a  call  for  all  Moslems  to 
“hate  the  British.”  The  following  quotation  is  a  pic¬ 
ture  of  what  this  radical  group,  who  are  closest  to 
Moustafa  Kemal  think  the  function  of  government  is : 

“And  thou,  the  Army  of  the  Creator  and  Just! 
Every  time  you  massacre  a  Greek  you  are  pulling  down 
one  of  the  corner-stones  of  the  British  Empire.  There¬ 
fore,  for  GocTs  sake  massacre,  for  the  love  of  your 
country  massacre,  in  revenge  of  your  dead  brethren 
massacre,  in  the  name  of  crying  humanity  massacre, 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world  massacre !” 

Remembering  fully  that  this  is  an  extreme  view,  and 
represents  the  most  radical  wing  among  the  Moslems, 
and  is  not  shared  by  thousands  of  their  people,  the 
fact  that  it  was  written  and  printed  and  does  express 
the  sentiment  of  the  controlling  political  regime,  does 
not  leave  much  room  to  base  any  expectations  that  the 
future  performances  of  the  Turk,  when  in  control, 
will  *be  changed  from  those  in  the  past. 

Fact  Number  4:  Everybody  was  agreed  that  the 
only  possible  hope  of  saving  the  people  there  from 


134  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

more  persecutions  at  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  and  help¬ 
less  women  and  children  from  death  by  starvation  or 
worse,  would  be  the  intervention  in  some  form  by  the 
American  Government.  Later  more  complete  refer¬ 
ence  will  be  made  to  this  worldwide  expectancy  con¬ 
cerning  the  place  the  United  States  has  in  preserving 
harmony  and  order  among  the  nations.  But  these  Near 
East  problems  brought  this  topic  so  intensely  to  my 
attention  that  justice  would  not  be  done  without  spe¬ 
cial  reference  to  this  in  connection  with  the  part  the 
Turkish  Government  is  to  have  in  the  future  of  the 
world.  “America  can  settle  this  whole  disturbance 
any  hour  she  will  announce  her  willingness  to  assume 
the  responsibility,”  was  the  fervent  statement  of  an  edu¬ 
cator  who  had  lived  in  Constantinople  for  sixteen  years. 

I  was  so  ashamed  of  the  fact  that  a  few  ossified 
isolationists  of  my  own  nation  had  dragooned  the 
whole  political  machinery  into  cowardly  dodging  its 
clear  duty  to  other  parts  of  the  world  that  I  did  not  seek 
to  have  this  question  discussed.  It  was  pressed  upon 
me  at  every  interview  held  with  men  and  women  with 
humaritarian  instincts. 

This  statement  made  by  the  educationalists  was  re¬ 
peated  to  me  in  substance  by  a  hundred  people.  With 
others  it  came  in  the  form  of  a  pitiful  appeal,  a  prayer 
that  even  yet  America  might  come  to  the  rescue.  These 
voices,  representing  many  nations  but  especially  Amer¬ 
icans,  British,  and  Greeks,  all  united  in  saying  that  the 
saddest  hour  in  the  history  of  this  part  of  the  universe, 
for  the  past  hundred  years  at  least,  was  when  America 
refused  to  accept  a  mandate  for  Armenia.  One  trav¬ 
eler,  not  an  American  and  with  no  relation  to  politics 
or  armies,  reported  to  me  the  glee  of  the  Turks  in  one 


CONSTANTINOPLE 


135 


of  the  interior  cities  when  the  message  was  received 
that  America  had  refused  to  accept  the  care  of  the  Ar¬ 
menian  territory.  He  said  it  was  a  regular  Fourth  of 
July  celebration.  He  also  said  that  from  that  day  on, 
as  he  traveled  through  that  country,  he  saw  the  change 
in  their  attitude  from  one  of  quiet  submission  to  one 
of  belligerence.  The  people  believe  that  our  presence 
there  would  have  saved  not  only  Armenia  but  the  rest 
of  the  disputed  territory,  which  now  seems  destined  to 
be  swept  back  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  If  these 
people  are  correct  in  this  impression,  nor  more  solemn 
question  of  duty  has  come  to  the  United  States  since 
i860.  No  frantic  speeches  about  “entangling  alliances’’ 
or  excuses  about  “cost  of  expeditions”  will  clear  us  in 
the  judgment  of  time  if  our  participation  there  is  neces¬ 
sary  for  peace  and  the  protection  of  human  life.  If 
these  people  are  correct,  and  the  return  of  the  Turk 
means  more  persecutions,  then  the  peace  of  the  world 
is  sure  to  be  upset  and  armed  force  will  be  required. 
For  no  conference  voice  will  have  any  effect  with  the 
Turk  in  his  present  frame  of  mind  and  dn  aroused 
world  will  surely  not  sit  by  and  see  helpless  people 
suffer  indefinitely  again.  And  if  the  guns  once  start 
shooting  in  the  Marmora  and  the  Dardanelles,  America 
will  hardly  find  the  isolation  argument  sufficient  to  pro¬ 
tect  her  human  and  temporal  possessions  there. 

In  justice  to  all  the  facts,  what  is  called  the  “new 
party”  in  Constantinople  must  be  mentioned.  It  is 
said  they  have  a  sincere  desire  to  see  a  new  and  puri¬ 
fied  Turkish  Government  take  the  place  of  the  old 
order.  I  was  privileged  to  meet  for  an  hour  with  three 
of  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  men.  For  their  sake 
and  what  they  represent,  I  wish  I  had  been  able  to  find 


136  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

a  real  foundation  for  their  hope.  But  it  was  not  pos¬ 
sible,  even  upon  their  own  statements,  for  one  of  them 
with  sadness  in  his  voice  said,  “Oh,  we  are  in  an  ocean 
of  sin  which  does  not  change.”  They  themselves  did 
not  prophesy  anything  very  different  from  the  tradi¬ 
tional  older  order.  In  a  milder  form  they  concurred 
in  the  first  three  facts  stated.  Nevertheless,  they  do 
without  doubt  represent  the  hope  at  least  that  the  Turk¬ 
ish  Government  may  some  day  be  reformed.  Gladly, 
to  give  every  possible  encouragement  to  that  element,  I 
quote  the  following  which  appeared  in  many  Constan¬ 
tinople  Turkish  papers  upon  April  13,  1922.  It  is  a 
brief  quotation  from  a  message  sent  out  by  the  Moslem 
Academy  in  anticipation  of  the  holy  month  of  Rama¬ 
zan  : 

“Oh,  Brethren  of  our  Religion!  Come,  let  us  re¬ 
pent  and  ask  forgiveness.  In  these  holy  nights  let  us 
abstain  from  liquor  and  immorality,  and  let  us  pray 
for  the  salvation  and  happiness  of  our  nation  and 
country.  Let  us  ask  that  the  blood  which  has  been 
shed,  the  calamity  of  the  families  which  have  been 
ruined,  the  sufferings  of  people  who  were  rich  but 
have  become  poor  and  emigrant,  the  tears  which  have 
run  from  the  eyes  of  the  innocent  children  should  not 
go  in  vain.  Let  us  love  one  another.  Let  us  never  do 
enmity  to  any  person.  Let  us  try  to  reform  ourselves 
with  a  strong  purpose,  let  us  try  to  be  helpful  to  every¬ 
body  and  especially  to  one  another  among  ourselves. 
Let  the  bad  spirit  of  disunion  and  condemnation  be 
away  from  us,  and  the  good  will  of  God  and  the 
Prophet,  power  and  peace  shall  be  with  us.” 

This  represents  the  minority  party  and  is  in  splendid 
contrast  to  the  earlier  quotation,  the  plea  of  the  Angora 


CONSTANTINOPLE  137 

Kemalist  extremists  for  the  rule  of  the  Turk  by  the 
sword. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  firsthand  evidence  enough  to 
make  these  facts  I  have  stated  indicate  my  own  per¬ 
sonal  conclusions.  I  would  be  glad  to  believe  they  are 
in  error,  but  they  are  an  honest  summary  of  what  I 
had  from  the  lips  of  a  host  of  competent  witnesses, 
who  were  more  unanimous  than  I  ever  knew  so  many 
people  to  be  upon  any  question  which  might  have  two 
sides  to  it.  Constantinople,  with  its  related  issues 
which  reach  as  far  as  India,  has  political  and  religious 
dynamite  enough  under  it  to  blow  up  the  peace  of  the 
entire  human  race  if  somebody  drops  a  match  into  the 
magazine  some  black  night. 

Here,  as  in  many  other  places,  the  silent,  pervading 
influence  of  the  Christian  movement  is  apparent,  as  an 
earnest  hope  of  continual  peace  and  a  solution  of  all 
the  complicated  problems  without  resort  to  arms.  But 
here  it  seemed  as  though  that  factor  were  more  pro¬ 
nounced  than  ever.  The  very  language  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  movement  and  the  atmosphere  it  creats  are  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  kind  encountered  in  economic 
and  diplomatic  circles.  The  former  sees  the  ideals  of 
brotherhood  and  friendship  yet  possible,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  all  the  obstacles  of  the  Mohammedan  and  Christian, 
East  and  West  hatreds.  The  latter  group,  peculiarly  in 
this  zone,  has  taken  a  cold  fatalist  philosophy — “an 
eye  for  an  eye/’  a  fight  to  the  finish,  the  strong  to  live 
and  the  weak  to  die.  Robert  College  for  the  men  and 
Constantinople  College  for  the  women,  as  typical  of  the 
entire  vast  Christian  movement  there,  are  worth  more 
every  twenty-four  hours  for  the  preservation  of  peace 
in  that  part  of  the  Near  East  than  their  total  cost  in 


138  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

all  their  history.  As  I  moved  through  that  scene  and 
heard  the  threats  being  made,  the  prophecies  of  out¬ 
break,  and  listened  to  the  tales  of  dread  of  more 
massacres,  I  was  led  many  times  to  wonder  just  what 
would  be  going  on  if  there  were  no  restraining 
influences  of  the  Christian  institutions — teachers, 
preachers,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  secre¬ 
taries,  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  secre¬ 
taries,  relief  workers,  and  all  kinds  of  missionaries. 
It  would  be  a  scene  of  indescribable  conflict  within 
thirty  days.  If  the  present  crisis  is  passed  and  order 
preserved  without  military  intervention,  the  rest  of  the 
world  may  offer  gratitude  to  those  Christians  rather 
than  to  the  political  diplomats. 


CHAPTER  XII 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


In  Acute  Nervous  Prostration 

“Europe,  the  Mother  Continent,  has  not  yet  run  her  race  or 
finished  her  achievement.  Scarred  and  suffering,  destitute, 
pauperized,  and  humiliated,  she  keeps  both  her  pride  and  her 
ideals,  and  deep  in  her  heart,  too  deep  as  yet  for  utterance  in  a 
language  that  others  can  understand,  she  bears  the  promise  of  a 
future  which  will  cause  men  to  reverence  her,  even  in  her  ad¬ 
versity,  not  merely  as  the  source  and  origin  of  civilization,  but 
as  its  pioneer.” — Alfred  E.  Zimmern,  “Europe  in  Convalescence.” 

AT  the  close  of  the  two  most  intense  months  of  a 
lifetime,  spent  in  travel  through  continental  Eu¬ 
rope,  meeting  the  most  vital  people  of  nine  na¬ 
tions,  including  visits  to  each  of  their  capitals  with  but 
one  exception,  listening  to  prepared  statements  from 
most  of  them  bearing  upon  their  grievances,  their  sor¬ 
rows,  their  hopes,  and  their  despairs,  I  find  myself  al¬ 
most  devoid  of  any  language  to  describe  at  all  accurately 
this  situation.  It  is  full  of  seemingly  impossible  con¬ 
tradictions.  People  in  whom  one  may  place  implicit  con¬ 
fidence  as  to  their  veracity  and  sincerity  were  making 
statements,  with  assurance  of  their  truth,  which  were  so 
far  apart  as  to  fact  that  they  left  no  apparent  room  to 
hope  for  reconciling  them  upon  the  theory  of  misinfor¬ 
mation  or  misunderstanding.  One  morning  a  commit¬ 
tee  submitted  typewritten  data,  on  the  happenings  in  a 
certain  portion  of  the  disputed  geography  of  Europe. 

139 


140  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

These  facts  seemed  indisputable,  the  gentlemen  who 
presented  them  were  entirely  trustworthy.  But  the  next 
day  there  was  obtained  from  an  equally  reliable  source 
another  fund  of  information,  which  denied  every  state¬ 
ment  previously  received,  and  presented  a  set  of  accusa¬ 
tions  charging  the  first  party  with  every  offense  which 
the  first  party  had  pleaded  against  the  second.  I  be¬ 
lieved  in  the  honesty  of  this  second  group  then,  I  be¬ 
lieve  the  same  thing  of  them  now.  I  was  convinced 
that  some  explanation  other  than  a  hasty  charge  of 
falsehood  was  necessary  if  justice  was  to  be  granted. 

Incidents  of  this  type,  however,  were  constantly  met 
at  intervals  of  about  four  days  each.  But  for  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  character  of  the  people  and  personal 
acquaintance  with  many  of  them,  I  would  have  been 
led  to  conclude  that  all  Europe  had  joined  the  Ananias 
club  and  was  holding  a  tournament  with  some  valuable 
trophy  at  stake.  One  thing  is  quite  evident — any  man 
who  visits  Europe  now  and  who  wishes  to  come  out 
with  a  connected  story  which  hangs  together  logically 
from  beginning  to  end,  with  no  cross  currents,  no  con¬ 
tradictions,  no  puzzling  entanglements,  must  visit  only 
one  nation.  If  he  visits  two,  even  if  they  were  allies 
in  the  war,  he  is  sure  to  be  in  a  muddle  of  ideas.  In  the 
midst  of  this  confusion,  I  chanced  to  hear  a  medical 
expert  discussing  the  causes  and  effects  of  “nervous 
prostration.”  A  good  many  of  his  technical  expressions 
I  did  not  follow,  but  between  times  I  gathered  a  few 
salient  points.  He  said  this  prevalent  infirmity  had 
three  possible  causes : 

I.  It  is  sometimes  brought  on  by  “overwork”  but 
not  often,  and  never  unless  accompanied  by  some  other 
contributing  element. 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


141 

2.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  is  brought  on  by  the 
long  pressure  of  some  great  “fear/’  some  dread  of  a 
terrible  calamity. 

3.  It  may  be  produced  by  “brooding”  over  sorrow, 
disappointment,  or  fancied  or  real  wrong. 

He  then  made  a  general  comment  that  the  most 
violent  cases  were  where  all  three  of  these  were  com¬ 
bined  in  their  attack  upon  one  patient.  In  speaking  of 
the  manifestations  he  said  three  were  usually  to  be 
found  in  varying  degrees  of  severity: 

1.  The  patient  loses  “hope”  and  drops  into  a  state  of 
almost  utter  despair. 

2.  The  patient  usually  imagines  the  “worst”  about 
the  possible  results  which  may  follow  in  the  problems, 
concerning  which  fears  are  entertained. 

3.  The  patient  rapidly  develops  a  state  of  “unrelia¬ 
bility” — a  condition  which  makes  impossible  rational 
thinking  or  normal  action. 

He  made  a  second  general  statement  to  the  effect 
that  the  disease  was  never  fatal  unless  the  patient  was 
attacked  by  some  other  complaint  during  the  period  of 
nervous  exhaustion;  but  added  that  unless  relieved  it 
did,  in  many  instances,  result  in  a  permanently  im¬ 
paired  mental  condition. 

In  responding  to  inquiries  as  to  the  surest  method  of 
recovery  and  remedy,  he  said  two  things  were  abso¬ 
lutely  essential : 

1.  Remove  the  cause  of  the  fear.  He  was  certain 
that  travel,  change  of  environment,  sea  resorts,  and  all 
the  rest  would  be  of  small  value  till  the  fear  quality  had 
been  eliminated. 

2.  Surround  the  patient  with  hopeful  people  and 
hopeful  expectations. 


142  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

In  general  comment  he  said  again  that  just  “rest” 
was  no  remedy  at  all  if  the  causes  remained  the  same, 
and  that  sometimes  “a  vacation  in  the  hills”  made  the 
patient  worse. 

This  scientific  man  was  discussing  the  sad  condition 
of  a  mutual  friend,  a  single  individual.  But  a  little 
time  for  thought  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  this  is 
just  what  has  happened  to  continental  Europe.  She  is 
nervously  wrought  upon  to  a  state  not  at  all  realized 
by  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  world,  and  to  a  degree 
far  beyond  that  of  which  she  herself  is  conscious.  If 
the  physician  was  correct  in  his  diagnosis,  Europe  is 
suffering  from  all  three  of  the  causes. 

These  people,  in  the  vast  majority,  have  always  had 
to  work  beyond  that  which  God  meant  human  beings 
to  endure,  but  since  1914  their  burden  has  been  in¬ 
creased  till  everybody  is  involved,  and  everybody  is 
working  (of  those  who  can  get  employment)  beyond 
the  limit  of  any  natural  endurance.  It  has  been,  and  is 
now,  a  close  clutch  with  terrific  work  or  starvation.  If 
overwork  of  itself  alone  could  produce  nervous  pros¬ 
tration,  these  people  have  sufficient  reason  to  be  so 
afflicted. 

But  added  to  abnormal  physical  tasks,  they  have  one 
hundred  per  cent  to  their  credit  in  the  second  cause; 
namely,  “fear.”  Every  spot  upon  which  I  trod  literally 
throbbed  with  fear,  dread  horror  of  the  return  of  the 
blackness  of  1914  to  1918,  with  its  death  and  destruc¬ 
tion  in  the  battle  zones,  and  of  worse  in  the  1918  to 
1922  period  with  plague,  pestilence,  disease,  and  starva¬ 
tion.  The  people  of  continental  Europe  have  not 
simply  been  through  one  or  two  wars;  they  are  the 
creatures  of  the  soil  overrun  by  wars  and  more  war. 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


143 


Generation  and  generation  has  struggled  up  a  little, 
only  to  be  beaten  back  to  the  dust  by  another  war. 
They  have  likewise  seen  the  evolution  of  this  thing  in 
frightfulness  of  results  till  its  fury  in  1914  to  1918 
has  about  paralyzed  their  capacity  for  cheer.  They 
have  sense  enough  to  wonder  what  another  one  would 
be.  They  hear  the  ominous  rumblings  of  more  conflict 
coming.  They  are  repeatedly  told  that  another  out¬ 
break  is  imminent.  They  listen  in  vain  for  any  voice 
of  authority  from  Washington,  London,  Paris,  Berlin, 
or  Petrograd,  saying  that  the  war  theory  is  past.  The 
people,  the  common  people  of  Europe,  are  working  on, 
yet  under  the  horrifying  depression  of  terror  that  the 
same  old  devilish  war  crowd  will  thrust  the  sword  into 
their  hands  again.  They  have  just  cause  to  be  afflicted 
with  nervous  prostration,  by  reason  of  this  fear  hang¬ 
ing  over  them  year  after  year. 

But  as  though  these  were  not  enough  they  have  a 
tremendous  amount  of  the  third  element  of  “brooding/' 
“sorrow,”  “disappointment.”  Only  two  of  the  nations 
visited  were  at  all  free  from  a  deep,  terrible  feeling 
that  they  have  been  wronged.  Leaving  apart  any  dis¬ 
cussion  of  the  merits  of  these  feelings,  they  are  fear¬ 
fully  real,  and  as  the  doctor  said,  “fancied”  wrongs 
are  just  as  dangerous  as  real  ones  in  the  effect  upon 
the  patient.  They  are  thinking  over  the  dead  who  they 
believe  were  needlessly  slaughtered.  They  are  thinking 
over  the  wrecked  areas  which,  at  best,  can  be  only 
feebly  restored  in  a  hundred  years.  They  are  thinking 
of  the  ruthless  territorial  adjustments,  which  they  be¬ 
lieve  were  made  with  small  recognition  of  the  actual 
justice  involved.  They  are  thinking  of  those  of  com¬ 
mon  blood,  tongue,  and  religion  who  have  been  torn 


144  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

from  them,  who  are  not  permitted  to  come  to  them  and 
to  whom  they  are  not  permitted  to  go.  Their  ears  are 
filled  with  the  stories  of  how  those  who  belonged  to 
them  a  few  years  ago  are  now  deprived  of  the  right 
to  use  their  native  tongue,  to  have  their  children  taught 
in  their  own  religion,  or  to  worship  God  in  their  own 
free  way.  Europe  had  one  Alsace-Lorraine  from  1870 
to  1918,  but  there  are  a  hundred  now  and  in  every  one 
of  them  daily  tears  are  shed,  prayers  are  offered,  and 
vows  are  made.  No  one  individual  or  company  of 
people  can  fully  estimate  the  “sorrow”  liability  of 
Europe.  It  is  nerve-racking — enough  to  produce  acute 
prostration,  and  to  unfit  them  for  the  great  tasks  neces¬ 
sary  in  reconstruction. 

But  true  as  the  diagnosis  of  causes  was,  and  the 
parallel  to  these  causes  which  was  found  in  the  life  of 
continental  Europe,  the  results  were  more  convincing. 
One  of  the  methods  the  medical  fraternity  follows  in 
determining  the  nature  of  disease,  so  I  am  told,  is  to 
watch  its  manifestations  in  the  patient,  not  only  by 
temperature,  but  by  actions,  desires,  and  various  whims. 
If  that  is  correct,  and  the  expert  to  whom  reference 
has  been  made  is  correct,  then  surely  Europe  has  nerv¬ 
ous  prostration. 

These  causes  have  led  to  these  results.  In  most  of 
the  nations  spoken  of,  there  is  an  absence  of  hope. 
Despair  of  anything  good  in  the  future  is  largely  pre¬ 
valent.  More  stolid  fatalists  were  met  in  these  two 
months  than  in  as  many  previous  years.  Most  of  the 
people  in  these  nations  have  surrendered  to  the  horrible 
conclusion  that  they  are  in  a  war-mad  world,  in  which 
brute  force  is  to  rule  without  mercy,  and  that  their  only 
hope  is  to  anticipate  the  possibility  of  being  on  the 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


145 


winning  side  some  day.  They  do  not  believe  there  is 
any  such  thing  as  a  world  where  justice,  righteousness, 
and  brotherhood  will  prevail. 

They  are  inclined  to  expect  the  worst  of  all  the  pos¬ 
sible  things  to  happen.  Nearly  every  suggestion  made 
of  signs  which  indicated  a  better  order  of  diplomacy 
and  international  processes,  signs  of  which  I  was  and 
am  convinced  there  are  many,  was  met  by  a  counter¬ 
argument  of  some  perfectly  terrible  thing  that  might 
happen.  They  are  so  wrought  upon  by  what  they  have 
witnessed,  and  what  they  still  fear,  that  they  are  not 
quite  in  command  of  their  best  faculties  when  consider¬ 
ing  the  problems  with  which  they  must  now  cope.  I  do 
not  remember  any  individual  or  group,  who  I  believe 
willfully  made  false  statements  or  submitted  untrue 
data;  but  I  am  rather  led  to  conclude  that,  when  the 
facts  stated  were  so  far  apart  that  otherwise  the  only 
conclusion  could  be  falsehood,  the  real  truth  is  to  be 
better  accepted  in  the  extenuating  circumstances  of  a 
fearfully  overwrought  nervous  condition. 

To  go  into  these  incidents  adequately  as  applied  to 
nine  nations  would  take  volumes  for  each  one.  But  for 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  who  are  true  advocates 
of  peace  and  brotherhood,  it  is  of  premier  importance 
to  get  a  sympathetic  knowledge  of  the  deep  sincere  feel¬ 
ings  of  these  nations.  They  may  be  based  upon  error, 
but  even  error  does  not  change  their  effect ;  neither  does 
it  remove  the  necessity  for  recognition  in  the  adjust¬ 
ments  which  are  yet  to  be  made  to  secure  the  peace  of 
the  world.  Remote,  hasty  conclusions  will  be  of  small 
value  in  helping  the  friendship  ideal.  Whatever  the 
final  verdict  is  to  be,  it  must  come  from  sources  which 
have  taken  full  account  of  how  these  leaders  of  all 


146  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

kinds  of  life  in  their  nations  truly  feel,  and  rigid, 
metallic,  unyielding,  unsympathetic  attitudes  only  tend 
to  make  the  situation  worse. 

The  comment  is  not  infrequently  heard  that  some¬ 
times  nervous  prostration  is  assumed  by  a  certain  type 
of  individual  as  an  excuse  to  evade  unpleasant  duties, 
to  explain  unseemly  conduct,  or  to  secure  a  good  vaca¬ 
tion.  To  those  even  partially  familiar  with  the  facts, 
this  charge  against  Europe  will  not  avail.  The  causes 
are  overwhelming.  A  few  general  conditions  may  be 
noted  which  are  having  their  effect,  more  or  less,  upon 
every  nook  and  corner  of  these  countries  of  continental 
Europe. 

First:  All  of  that  part  of  the  world  expected  the 
Peace  Treaty  would  be  based  upon  the  famous  “Four¬ 
teen  Points”  enunciated  by  President  Wilson.  Re¬ 
peated  explanation  that  these  were  at  best  only  pre¬ 
liminary  suggestions  and  only  the  view  of  one  indi¬ 
vidual,  does  not  at  all  lessen  the  keen  sense  of  dis¬ 
appointment.  People  point  to  the  fact  that,  to  all 
appearances,  the  whole  world  arose,  cheered,  and  pro¬ 
claimed  these  principles  as  the  basis  of  a  new  civiliza¬ 
tion,  in  which  justice  and  good  will  would  supplant  the 
old  forms  of  aggression,  secret  compacts,  and  inter¬ 
alliances.  There  certainly  remains  no  doubt  but  that 
their  expectation  in  this  respect  had  real  foundation. 
The  general  feeling  is  that  the  Armistice  was  hastened 
by  at  least  ten  months  by  this  proclamation.  President 
Wilson  issued  them  to  the  world  in  January,  1918. 
Upon  November  fifth  the  Entente  Allies  accepted  them, 
with  only  one  mild  suggestion  of  change.  November 
11,  1918  they  were  signed  as  the  basis  of  peace,  to  be 
fully  worked  out  later.  But  the  Versailles  Conference 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


147 


came  and,  little  by  little,  these  points  were  obliterated 
or  so  modified  that  in  the  final  document  they  had 
passed  out  of  recognition.  Perhaps  they  were  bad; 
possibly  they  ought  not  to  have  been  published  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  the  Armistice,  but,  even  so,  the  serious  effect 
remains.  They  were  the  hope  of  the  world  then,  and 
they  are  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth  now.  But  in 
their  loss  most  of  the  nations  of  continental  Europe 
have  been  so  stunned  that  they  have  nearly  abandoned 
all  capacity  to  believe  in  anything  which  has  humani¬ 
tarian  expectations  in  it.  In  several  nations  the  current 
view  is  that  these  principles  were  never  seriously  meant 
to  be  adopted,  and  were  issued  as  a  trap,  as  a  trick,  to 
break  down  the  morale  of  the  powers  opposing  the 
Entente  forces.  Completely  as  one  may  disbelieve  this 
theory,  it  is  not  easy  to  convince  these  people  that  such 
was  not  the  case.  Trained  by  long  years  to  be  deceived, 
schooled  in  the  realm  where  secret  diplomacy  had 
always  been  accustomed  to  tell  the  people  one  thing 
and  mean  something  else,  they  naturally  wonder  if  the 
Fourteen  Points  were  not  just  staged  for  psychological 
results. 

Whatever  may  be  the  last  judgment  about  the 
wisdom  of  the  Fourteen  Points,  as  to  content  or  time 
of  issuance,  there  is  no  possible  doubt  but  that  if  they 
had  been  lived  up  to  at  the  Versailles  Conference, 
Europe  and  the  whole  world  would  not  be  in  its  present 
mess  of  bankrupt  finances  and  worse  yet  bankrupt 
morale,  in  loss  of  confidence  that  anybody  in  the  diplo¬ 
matic  world  will  tell  the  truth. 

Second:  All  these  nations  believed  that  the  United 
States  would  go  into  the  League  of  Nations  and  take 
the  leading  part  in  making  it  effective.  This  was  an 


148  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

American  proposal,  it  was  approved  by  practically  all 
the  standard  papers,  respected  by  respectable  folks,  and 
there  was  never  a  suspicion  that  we  were  to  bring  it 
forward  and  then  refuse  to  become  a  member  of  it. 
All  the  well-worked  excuses  do  not  alter  this  pri¬ 
mary  conviction  upon  which  the  whole  world  was  pro¬ 
ceeding. 

Lest  the  spirit  of  this  chapter  may  be  misunderstood, 
the  writer  feels  led  to  say  he  was  among  those  who 
earnestly  welcomed  the  ideal  of  a  League  of  Nations, 
and  was  sorely  disappointed  when  the  actual  covenant 
was  made  known.  But  this  statement  and  every  other 
attempt  to  explain,  do  not  relieve  the  effect  this  inci¬ 
dent  has  had  upon  European  conditions.  Once  these 
nations  hoped  to  have  recourse  in  hours  of  trouble  to 
a  League  in  which  there  would  be  such  a  sense  of  fair 
play,  and  behind  which  there  would  be  such  prestige, 
that  justice  to  the  least  in  the  world  would  be  guaran¬ 
teed.  But,  instead,  they  look  with  doubt  to  the  present 
organization  and  are  led  to  believe  they  must  just  fight 
in  the  old  way  to  get  anything. 

The  depressing  effect  of  these  facts  cannot  be  easily 
overstated,  neither  can  it  be  easily  understood  by 
those  far  removed  from  the  actual  soil  involved. 
Prominent  men  in  every  nation  visited  are  constantly 
talking  of  how  different  the  whole  situation  might  be 
if  the  principles  declared  in  the  Fourteen  Points  had 
prevailed  and  America  had  been  a  member  of  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  failure  to  bring  this  about 
has  left  the  marks  of  fear  for  the  future  and  resent¬ 
ment  for  the  past. 

Third :  All  Europe  is  literally  bewildered  in  its 
attempt  to  understand  the  almost  complete  economic 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


149 


wreck  which  has  swept  practically  over  every  nation, 
even  involving  seriously  those  which  remained  neutral 
from  1914  to  1918.  Happily,  God  has  caused  the  rain 
and  sunshine  to  bring  forth  enough  food  to  relieve  the 
starvation  factor  to  a  large  degree.  But  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  future  they  see  no  hope  of  recovery. 
All  the  natural  channels  of  older  commerce  are  broken 
up  by  the  new  geographical  divisions.  Nations  left 
with  coal  have  no  raw  materials;  those  with  the  raw 
materials  have  no  coal.  Nearly  all  the  borders  are 
closed  tight  against  exports  or  imports.  The  exchange 
is  so  hazardous  that  no  one  dare  make  a  decided  move 
in  any  business  enterprise.  At  one  place,  I  asked  the 
price  of  an  auto  for  about  a  sixty-mile  drive  over  as 
fine  a  road  as  may  be  found  in  Massachusetts  or  Cali¬ 
fornia.  It  was  quoted  to  me  at  120,000  kronen.  In 
normal  times  this  would  have  meant  $24,000.  In  reality 
it  was  about  twelve  dollars.  At  the  same  rate  I  would 
have  been  compelled  to  pay  about  200,000  marks,  had 
the  transaction  been  in  Germany.  I  was  told,  while  in 
Czecho-Slovakia,  that  Polish  money  had  practically 
been  abandoned  as  of  no  value — what  had  already 
happened  in  Russia.  The  result  is  that  there  is  no  field 
for  manufacturing  in  a  normal  way  and  no  outlet, 
with  borders  mostly  closed.  One  member  of  the  British 
Parliament  announced  in  May,  1922,  that  he  had  been 
making  an  investigation  which  led  him  to  believe  there 
were  17,000,000  unemployed  in  Europe  (none  of  these, 
however,  in  Germany)  all  of  whom  were  responsible 
bread-winners.  Debts  are  accumulating  beyond  the 
power  of  the  mathematicians  to  compute.  The  Genoa 
Conference  met,  struggled  hard,  endured  much,  did 
something,  but  sent  out  no  word  of  encouragement. 


150  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Therefore,  there  need  be  no  surprise  if  many  of  these 
peoples  seem  to  do  utterly  absurd  things  and  say  crazy 
things.  I  remember  watching  Wall  Street  one  day  in 
1897  when  one  or  two  trust  companies  had  failed. 
Men  otherwise  calm  and  dignified  ran  coatless  and  hat¬ 
less  through  the  streets,  knocking  people  over  in  their 
haste.  Continental  Europe  is  seeing  whole  nations 
going  into  bankruptcy.  Men  who  were  worth  millions 
of  dollars  even  two  and  three  years  ago  are  paupers  to¬ 
day.  But  I  haven’t  yet  seen  anything  as  silly  as  that 
New  York  City  scene,  when  a  few  men  were  afraid 
they  were  going  to  lose  a  few  dollars.  No  judgment 
of  Europe  is  fair  now  unless  it  is  sympathetic  enough 
to  understand  this  psychology.  Czecho-Slovakia, 
Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  and  Scandinavia  are  in¬ 
volved  less  than  others,  but  all  are  under  this  fear. 
These  general  elements  are  intensified  to  a  fearful  de¬ 
gree  and  are  common  to  all  Europe,  but  the  unique  con¬ 
ditions  in  some  of  the  nations  are  even  more  severe  and 
are  worthy  of  particular  attention. 

Judgment  of  Greece  must  be  tempered  by  knowledge 
of  the  fact  that  the  Greeks  feel  they  are  being  aban¬ 
doned  by  their  former  allies,  and  left  unsupported  to 
be  the  buffer  for  the  furious  coming  of  the  Turk. 
That  contest  they  believe  is  for  life  or  death  as  a  nation. 
Their  fears  are  increased  by  the  rumors  that,  in  the 
midst  of  the  struggle,  Bulgaria  may  attack  from  the 
north  to  regain  what  was  lost  in  1918.  They  are  the 
children  of  the  world’s  ancient  glory.  In  their  veins 
the  blood  is  yet  rich  in  their  ancestry,  and  their  love  of 
the  past  and  their  hope  for  the  future  make  the  welfare 
of  their  nation  precious.  But  they  are  seeing  the 
possibility  of  being  wiped  out  of  existence,  of  being 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE  151 

literally  annihilated  as  a  nation.  The  Greeks  have 
reason  to  be  nervous. 

Judgment  of  Bulgaria  must  be  based  upon  some 
comprehension  of  her  feelings.  She  is  a  land  of  beauty 
and  culture;  ninety  five  per  cent,  of  her  people  are 
literate ;  schools  are  abundant  and  of  high  quality ;  her 
people  are  famous  for  industrious  life.  She  feels  that 
she  was  betrayed  into  surrender  in  October,  1918,  by 
a  promise  of  a  treaty  founded  upon  the  Fourteen 
Points.  She  believes  she  had  no  part  in  bringing  on 
the  war.  She  believes  her  cause  was  never  listened  to 
by  the  Versailles  Conference.  She  believes  the  penal¬ 
ties  imposed  are  beyond  all  reason.  Territory  has  been 
lost  to  nations  of  the  south  and  north.  The  present 
suggested  reparations  call  for  an  amount  equal  to  one 
thousand  dollars  from  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
in  the  nation  to  be  paid  inside  of  three  years,  or  about 
five  thousand  dollars  for  each  producer.  The  purpose 
now  is  not  to  argue  personal  opinions  about  the  right 
or  wrong  of  the  penalties,  but  to  say  that  the  feelings  of 
the  people  must  be  thought  of  seriously  by  all  who  hope 
for  final  peace. 

Judgment  of  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  state  must  be 
in  remembrance  of  what  they  have  passed  through,  not 
only  since  1914,  but  back  as  far  as  the  fifteenth  century. 
However,  the  later  years  are  enough.  They  were  over¬ 
run  by  armies  of  the  Central  Powers  twice  during  the 
war.  Every  railroad  bridge  over  every  stream  was 
destroyed.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  priests  of  the 
Orthodox  Church  were  shot,  and  a  thousand  more 
taken  as  prisoners.  The  loss  of  life  compared  to  popu¬ 
lation  was  second  only  to  that  of  Belgium.  They  be¬ 
longed  to  the  winning  side  in  the  war,  but  they  are 


152  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

being  left  as  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones, 
to  struggle  their  way  back  to  self-support  and  a  stable 
government,  and  all  the  while  with  a  dread  of  what 
Italy  is  going  to  do  to  them  on  the  west.  They  think 
the  fact  that  they  were  an  ally  of  Italy  from  1915  to 
1918  has  been  forgotten,  and  with  dread  they  are  ex¬ 
pecting  outbreaks  of  a  violent  kind  with  the  Italians 
upon  their  western  frontier,  who  seem  unwilling  to  have 
them  benefit  by  accessible  ports  on  the  Adriatic  Sea. 
Jugo-Slavia  is  nervous  and  the  critics  are  severe,  but 
there  is  genuine  basis  for  their  sensitive  feelings. 

Judgment  also  of  the  Hungarians  is  useless  unless 
tempered  by  ability  to  realize  what  their  feelings  are. 
Every  ancient  charge  may  be  true,  or  less  severe  than 
they  may  have  deserved,  but  even  if  that  theory  were 
accepted  it  does  not  relieve  the  strain  of  their  present 
anguish  and  resentment.  In  common  with  other 
farther  Eastern  nations,  they  feel  tremendously  that 
they  were  not  the  cause  of  the  war,  and  had  no  voice  in 
deciding  whether  they  would  participate  or  not.  One 
American  who  was  in  Budapest  when  the  bulletins 
were  being  posted  in  the  last  hours  of  July,  1914,  told 
me  he  heard  men  and  women  weep  aloud  as  the  news 
told  them  they  were  in  the  war,  and  must  again  go 
through  the  horrors  of  older  years.  Their  destiny  was 
fixed  primarily  in  Berlin,  incidentally  in  Vienna.  They 
were  not  asked  what  they  thought,  and  they  now  feel 
that  those  who  dispensed  the  penalties  ought  to  take 
this  into  account. 

They  are  also  bewildered  by  the  fact  that  they 
stopped  fighting  when  the  Fourteen  Points  were  pub¬ 
lished,  and  felt  a  great  sense  of  relief  as  they  based 
their  hopes  of  the  future  upon  Clause  No.  X  of  that 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


153 


famous  prophecy,  which  reads  as  follows :  “The 
peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  whose  place  among  the 
nations  we  wish  to  see  safeguarded  and  assured,  should 
be  accorded  the  freest  opportunity  for  autonomous 
development/’  Instead  of  this  safeguarding  they  have 
been  ripped  asunder,  one  chunk  tossed  to  Jugo-Slavia, 
another  to  Roumania,  some  more  to  Czecho-Slovakia, 
and  finally  a  piece  to  their  former  ally,  Austria.  In 
1914  they  had  28,000,000  population;  they  now  have 
a  little  less  than  12,000,000.  Upon  one  square  there 
have  been  erected  in  Budapest  four  marble  statues,  com¬ 
memorating  their  losses  to  each  of  these  nations,  and, 
of  course,  as  a  reminder  to  those  who  follow  them,  that 
love  of  country  demands  that  these  lost  parts  shall 
someday,  sometime,  be  won  back.  They  ask  that  the 
effect  of  what  they  hoped  for  and  what  they  received 
be  reckoned  with. 

They  stopped  fighting  in  October,  1918,  but  they 
were  invaded  in  1919  by  the  Roumanian  army,  which 
swept  clear  into  Budapest,  and  for  days  loaded  train 
after  train  with  everything  of  value  the  soldiers  could 
get  their  hands  on,  and  shipped  it  to  Bucharest.  The 
Entente  Allies  offered  no  protest ;  the  Hungarians  had 
no  army  with  which  to  resist.  They  are  remembering 
this,  and  the  wound  is  deeper  the  longer  they  think  and 
get  no  explanation. 

They  are  sitting  amid  the  wreck  of  their  economic 
system,  wondering  how  they  will  ever  rebuild  it.  Gov¬ 
ernor  Horthey  said  in  a  personal  interview,  “Our  most 
valuable  assets  have  been  given  to  others;  as  illustra¬ 
tion,  we  haven’t  wood  enough  left  to  make  coffins  for 
our  dead.”  They  feel  as  though  they  have  been  used 
as  a  sort  of  a  “slush  fund,”  out  of  which  the  bills  were 


154  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

to  be  paid  as  the  various  conquerors  made  their  de¬ 
mands.  When  Bohemia  had  to  be  compensated, 
7,000,000  of  the  population  were  cut  off  to  make  up 
Czecho-Slovakia.  When  Serbia  asked  for  her  share, 
about  the  same  amount  was  awarded  to  her,  out  of 
which  was  built  the  Serb-Croat-Slovene  State.  When 
Roumania  came  forward  for  her  part  of  the  spoil, 
2,000,000  more  of  Hungary’s  people  were  charged  off 
to  that  account.  For  some  reason  nobody  knows,  a 
small  slice  was  taken  off  and  stuck  on  the  western  bor¬ 
der  of  Austria. 

While  pondering  over  these  incidents,  they  see  the 
Reparation  Commission  living  in  luxurious  style  while 
they  deliberate  upon  the  final  penalties.  A  colonel's 
salary,  the  decorative  element  of  one  of  these  com¬ 
missions,  is  double  that  of  the  Governor.  A  common 
soldier  of  the  Entente  commission  gets  675,000  kronen, 
while  the  Hungarian  Prime  Minister  receives  15,000. 
The  commission  takes  the  Bristol  Hotel  and  operates 
it  at  top  speed.  All  this  is  a  final  charge  to  the 
Hungarian  Government.  They  have  capacity  for  great 
sorrow,  and  it  is  being  taxed  to  its  utmost,  and,  what¬ 
ever  the  final  decisions  are,  they  are  worthless  unless 
they  have  taken  these  elements  into  the  bookkeeping. 
A  direct  comment  is  ventured  to  the  effect  that,  of  the 
defeated  nations  visited,  the  Hungarians  have  more 
courage  and  will  to  go  forward  left  than  was  observed 
at  any  other  place.  Hardly  able  to  see  a  ray  of  hope 
for  many  years  to  come,  they  are  struggling  valiantly. 

The  same  general  statement  may  be  made  of  Austria. 
Once  she  was  the  proud  center  of  Europe’s  finest  life — 
a  nation  of  nearly  30,000,000,  now  less  than  8,000,000. 
Of  these  2,000,000  are  in  Vienna,  with  no  possible 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


155 


means  of  adequate  support,  with  all  the  borders  closed 
against  her.  They  see  only  two  hopes :  one,  to  be 
joined  to  Germany  that  they  may  at  least  have  that 
much  outlet  for  commerce;  the  other,  to  save  their 
universities  and  colleges,  and  thus  remain  a  great  center 
of  culture  and  education. 

Likewise,  all  the  verdicts  about  Czecho-Slovakia  are 
good  only  as  they  enter  into  the  causes  of  some 
anxieties  under  which  the  people  live.  This  newest 
republic  of  Europe,  presided  over  by  the  gallant  Presi¬ 
dent  Masaryk  who  was  elected  for  life,  while  having 
much  to  give  satisfaction  and  encouragement,  shows 
signs  of  severe  nervousness.  They  are  trying  to  bind 
into  a  unit  elements  as  widely  different  as  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  the  North  and  South  Poles  might  be.  They 
know  the  fury  in  the  heart  of  Germany,  Austria,  and 
Hungary  towards  them.  They  view  with  alarm  the 
alliance  between  Germany  and  Bolshevik  Russia.  They 
have  in  their  western  territory  those  who  would  join  a 
revolution  at  any  moment  Germany  might  begin 
another  war.  They  have  more  in  the  south  who  would 
do  the  same  thing,  if  either  Austria  or  Hungary  would 
take  the  initiative  in  the  attack.  They  are  passing 
through  anxious  hours  concerning  internal  affairs. 
The  new  Czech  National  Church,  which  is  composed 
of  hundreds  of  former  priests  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  who  have 
thrown  off  that  control,  has  injected  a  religious  tension 
which  in  ordinary  times  would  be  enough  of  a  problem 
alone  for  one  government  to  handle.  The  Bolshevik 
sentiment,  while  well  in  the  minority,  is  a  constant 
menace. 

A  short  time  in  Eastern  Germany  was  not  sufficient 


156  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

to  gain  any  new  evidence  with  which  to  modify  the 
common  view,  that  the  people  are  writhing  under  the 
sting  of  defeat,  rebelling  against  accepting  responsi¬ 
bility  for  what  happened  in  1914,  determined  to  evade 
payment  of  reparations,  and  vowing  for  revenge  by 
the  method  of  war  some  day. 

Russia  and  Poland,  the  two  nations  most  in  chaos, 
were  not  visited;  but  every  manner  of  information, 
either  through  printed  page  or  from  those  who  had 
been  in  personal  contact,  indicated  that  their  nervous 
system  had  reached  the  hysterical  stage. 

A  strange  yet  wonderfully  helpful  contrast  was 
found  in  crossing  the  border  into  Switzerland,  that 
charmed  nation  which,  although  surrounded  by  war 
from  1914  to  1918,  remained  neutral.  A  few  days 
there,  with  visits  to  three  of  the  popular  centers,  re¬ 
vealed  no  malice  toward  others,  no  desire  for  revenge, 
no  necessity  for  defense — conditions  which  might  have 
been  found  in  others  of  the  neutral  nations  if  they  had 
been  included.  For  the  first  time  in  eight  months,  I 
was  not  called  upon  to  listen  to  any  story  of  wrongs  and 
injustice  or  threats  of  revenge.  Yet  even  Switzerland 
is  nervous.  The  business  depression  is  the  most  severe 
of  a  generation.  Manufacturing  is  at  a  low  ebb  and 
has  no  market.  The  great  hotels  are  empty  and  porters 
are  standing  at  the  door  waiting  for  the  uncertain 
American  tourist  to  arrive.  Switzerland  listens  to  the 
mutterings,  the  wrangling,  the  threatenings  of  all  her 
neighbors,  and  cannot  feel  sure  that  another  and  even 
more  desperate  war  is  not  approaching.  She  is  like¬ 
wise  not  at  all  sure  but  that,  in  such  an  event,  she  will 
be  involved,  and  thus,  some  day  not  too  far  distant,  be 
in  the  same  deplorable  condition  as  that  of  the  recent 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


157 


combatants.  Therefore  Switzerland,  typifying  the 
neutrals,  is  not  free  from  the  malady,  although  it  has 
not  reached  the  acute  stage  in  her  life. 

Judgment  of  France  is  worth  listening  to  only  if  it 
is  supported  by  wisdom  enough  to  appreciate  the  French 
attitude  of  mind.  Upon  this  question  I  have  some 
opinions  well  enough  established  to  express  them  with¬ 
out  reservation.  From  San  Francisco  to  Paris,  through 
Japan,  China,  India,  Egypt,  and  Europe  I  had  been 
hearing  that  France  had  suddenly  become  the  imperial¬ 
istic  nation  of  the  world,  bent  upon  military  aggression 
for  world  power.  I  knew  I  did  not  believe  that, 
from  some  knowledge  of  France  before  1914.  I 
know  I  did  not  believe  that  in  1917  and  1918. 
I  knew  I  did  not  believe  that  by  personal  contact 
in  1921.  I  wondered  if  all  this  change  would  have 
taken  place  in  twelve  months.  Here,  once  more, 
it  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  writer  to  argue  the  merits 
of  certain  incidents.  Perhaps  France  was  too  severe  in 
the  Versailles  Conference.  Perhaps  France  was  too 
insistent  at  Washington  upon  her  military  necessities. 
Perhaps  France  had  been  too  generous  in  treatment  of 
the  Turk.  Perhaps  France  was  too  stubborn  at  Genoa. 
But  what  are  the  actual,  deep,  honest  convictions  which 
the  French  have  and  which  must  be  remembered  in 
appraising  their  movements?  France  believes  the 
Treaty  of  Versailles,  which  all  the  nations  signed, 
ought  to  be  lived  up  to.  She  is  utterly  unable  to  under¬ 
stand  why  so  many  nations  signed  that  Treaty  and  then 
immediately  began  to  act  as  though  it  were  not  binding. 

France  believes  the  calling  of  special  conferences  is 
just  one  more  method  of  defeating  the  Versailles 
Treaty.  These  conferences  may  have  the  highest 


158  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

motives  and,  if  so,  France  is  willing  to  participate,  but 
she  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  real  purpose  is  to  reopen 
the  whole  situation  clear  back  to  November  n,  1918. 
France  believes  Germany  is  persistently  preparing  to 
attack  her  again,  and  that  if  she  does  her  ally  will  be 
Russia,  and  that  if  successful,  “Mercy”  would  be  the 
last  word  to  be  found  in  the  dictionary.  France  believes 
the  rebuilding  of  the  devastated  regions  is  to  be  delayed 
by  many,  many  years.  Nearly  four  years  have  passed 
and,  to  a  terrible  degree,  the  devastation  is  still  about 
as  it  was  when  General  Foch  gave  the  order  to  cease 
firing.  No  substantial  reparations  have  been  paid  by 
Germany,  and  none  are  probable  for  a  long  period  yet 
to  come.  Thus,  the  wreck  of  northern  France  remains 
an  element  of  increasing  aggravation. 

France  lives  in  perfect  horror  of  what  the  future  has 
in  store  for  her.  Five  times  in  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years  she  has  been  invaded  by  Germany.  I  talked  with 
one  man  whose  home  had  twice  been  occupied  by  Ger¬ 
man  officers  in  his  lifetime.  Germany,  with  almost 
twice  the  population  of  France,  with  millions  of  her 
men  well  trained  soldiers,  only  lacking  uniform  and 
arms,  and  with  every  public  utterance  of  her  prominent 
men  couched  in  terms  of  threat  and  revenge,  gives 
abundant  ground  for  this  tremendous  fear  of  the  future 
and  determination  to  be  prepared  for  the  blow  if  it 
comes. 

I  found  no  evidence  that  France  was  jealous  for 
more  territory.  I  heard  men  in  high  political  office 
say  with  deep  feeling,  “God  knows  we  want  no  more 
war;  we  are  sick  and  tired  of  it.”  I  saw  a  major- 
general  of  the  French  Army  applaud  the  expressed  hope 
of  a  warless  world.  I  believed  France  a  worthy  ally 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


159 


in  1917  and  1918;  I  believe  her  equally  worthy  in  1922. 
France  has  convictions,  and  her  chief  characteristic  is 
not  to  be  vacillating.  The  Entente  praised  her  qualities 
of  determination  in  the  autumn  of  1914.  They  praised 
them  more  in  1916,  1917,  and  1918.  There  may  be 
yet  more  cause  to  be  thankful  for  the  same  tokens  in 
1922.  She  is  nervous,  and,  as  one  of  her  friends 
said,  inclined  to  be  a  bit  “jumpy.”  She  may  have 
been  unwise  in  some  utterances ;  but  only  those 
who  can  appreciate  her  feelings,  her  fears,  her  mem¬ 
ories,  her  hopes,  and  her  history  are  eligible  to  be  her 
critics. 

Europe  presents  a  sad  picture:  wrecked  financially; 
living  in  a  state  of  complete  confusion  about  the  future ; 
having  her  hopes  lifted  high  at  one  moment  in  the 
presence  of  some  new  prophecy,  of  some  new  remedy, 
only  to  have  them  dashed  to  pieces  by  the  discovery 
that  it  is  not  acceptable  to  the  powers  that  be ;  swept  by 
waves  of  hate  and  envy  which  forbid  cooperation; 
horrified  at  the  possibility  of  another  great  war.  It  is 
not  strange  that  she  is  broken  down  nervously. 

I  was  glad  the  medical  man  said  that  this  affliction 
was  never  fatal  unless  accompanied  by  other  complica¬ 
tions.  No  man  who  travels  over  the  beautiful  hills  and 
fields  of  Europe,  and  sees  her  people  so  willing  to  work 
hard  and  endure  much,  can  easily  accept  the  theory  of 
death.  Even  in  the  presence  of  no  ability  to  suggest 
any  apparent  basis  of  relief,  there  remains  the  confident 
assurance  that  there  is  a  way  out  and  that  it  will  be 
found.  Europe  is  about  as  sick  as  any  patient  ever 
was  who  recovered,  but  she  will  recover.  Among  the 
things  necessary,  the  ordinary  layman  can  easily  discern 
two  which  are  fundamental.  There  is,  doubtless,  need 


i6o  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


for  loans  and  financial  commissions,  but  they  will  not 
avail  much  if  unaccompanied  by  deeds. 

In  the  first  place ,  remove  the  fear  of  war. 

Tired  and  distracted  as  they  are,  I  believe  if  some 
voice  with  authority  could  tell  the  people  of  Europe 
that  there  never  would  be  another  war,  every  man, 
woman,  and  child — except  the  war  lords — in  every 
nation  would  throw  up  their  hats  in  glee  and  go  tG 
work  with  a  song  on  their  lips  and  new  courage  in  their 
hearts.  The  task  ahead  would  still  seem  severe,  but  it 
would  be  undertaken  with  confidence.  It  is  the  horror 
of  more  war  which  makes  the  job  intolerable,  not  the 
magnitude  of  it. 

In  the  second  place ,  persuade  Europe  to  accept  the 
program  of  cooperation ,  instead  of  closed  borders  and 
isolation. 

If  every  state  in  the  United  States  was  jealous  of 
all  the  bordering  states,  and  had  barriers  against  travel 
and  trade,  it  would  wreck  the  whole  nation  in  a  few 
years,  but  this  is  just  what  is  going  on  in  Europe.  I 
preached  a  doctrine  at  one  meeting  in  Prague,  which  I 
thought  was  upon  a  high  level,  when  I  said  that  Europe 
needed  to  adopt  the  ideal  of  “live  and  let  live.”  A 
beautiful  Bohemian  woman,  president  of  the  “Mothers’ 
Peace  Society,”  in  responding  said:  “Mr.  Smith’s 
platform  isn’t  high  enough.  What  we  in  Europe  need 
is  an  era  of  living  to  help  live,  if  we  are  to  recover.” 
If  every  ideal  of  the  Washington  and  Genoa  Confer¬ 
ences  is  realized,  if  loans  big  enough  to  float  the  in¬ 
debtedness  of  all  the  nations  are  secured,  if  all  nations 
join  the  League  of  Nations  and  follow  it,  and  even  the 
terror  of  war  is  removed,  but  still  the  present  system  of 
hate,  jealousy,  and  refusal  to  live  upon  a  platform  of 


CONTINENTAL  EUROPE 


161 


cooperation  is  to  be  continued,  there  can  be  no  cure 
for  Europe.  “Cooperation”  is  the  biggest  word  to  be 
taught  to  continental  Europe  if  she  is  to  recover. 

Peace  or  War;  Life  or  Death;  Hate  or  Brotherhood 
are  still  the  vexed  uncertain  questions  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


GREAT  BRITAIN 

The  Land  of  Unfailing  Courage 

AT  the  close  of  a  tour  through  many  nations,  with 
never  twenty-four  hours  on  land  or  sea  entirely 
free  from  some  problem  related  to  the  issues 
involving  the  peace  of  the  world,  the  perils  of  war,  the 
principles  of  brotherhood,  or  the  new  demands  of  re¬ 
construction,  it  was  a  strange  set  of  impulses  and 
memories  which  were  put  in  motion  as  the  soil  of  the 
British  Isles,  the  heart  of  the  British  Empire,  was 
reached.  As  contrasted  with  much  of  the  life  met  in 
most  of  the  nations  earlier  visited,  it  was  like  a  newborn 
hope  that  everything  everywhere  was  going  to  be  all 
right  after  a  while.  I  had  been  led  to  write  of  conti¬ 
nental  Europe  as  very  ‘‘nervous,”  of  other  peoples  in 
“turmoil,”  and  others  excited  and  fomenting  disorder. 
The  British  Isles  I  found  calm,  thoughtful,  serious, 
fully  conscious  of  the  world  crisis,  but  going  ahead 
steadily  to  perform  a  great  service  with  traditional 
courage.  We  had  for  all  the  months  been  struggling 
with  border  entrances,  where  it  seemed  as  though  every 
possible  handicap  was  being  used  to  make  intercom¬ 
munication  difficult.  Police,  passport,  and  custom  legis¬ 
lations  had  been  almost  intolerable.  Everybody 
seemed  suspicious  of  everybody.  These  border  cross- 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


163 

ings  were  remembered  as  being  noisy,  boisterous,  and 
wrangling  experiences.  One  fact  alone  made  them  en¬ 
durable.  So  far  as  customs  regulations  were  involved, 
I  said  frequently  as  we  were  compelled  to  pull  every¬ 
thing  out  and  have  it  overhauled  and  examined,  “This 
is  horrible,  but  not  so  horrible  as  entering  the  United 
States.”  America  still  retains  the  blue  ribbon  in  this 
form  of  international  pest. 

But  entering  England  was  quiet,  orderly,  and  with  a 
kind  of  “welcome  friend”  touch  to  it.  Leaving  by  the 
route  of  one  of  the  greatest  ships  on  sea  was  of  the 
same  type.  No  shouting,  no  crowding,  no  pulling  and 
hauling.  Traveling  in  eighteen  different  nations  and 
then  coming  to  the  British  Isles  is  a  good  way  to  know 
real  British  character.  In  all  the  long  reaches  of  travel 
by  rail  and  ship,  covering  approximately  thirty  thousand 
miles,  we  had  been  one  half  the  distance  and  one  half 
the  actual  days  under  the  Union  Jack,  the  emblem  of 
the  Empire.  But  the  pivot  of  it  all  was  here  on  these 
little  islands,  so  small  that  I  am  always  more  or  less 
afraid  to  go  out  at  night  lest  I  may  fall  off.  I  usually 
feel  a  bit  worried  on  a  train  there  lest  if  it  gets  run¬ 
ning  too  fast  it  may  not  be  able  to  stop  before  it  gets 
clear  across  the  place  and  goes  plunging  into  the 
water. 

I  went  out  soon  after  arrival  in  London  and  found 
my  way  to  Westminster,  and  just  looked  at  the  majesty 
of  the  Parliament  Buildings,  and  the  Abbey  at  their 
side.  There  is  no  other  scene  like  that  on  the  earth; 
all  others  are  imitations.  There  are  typified  govern¬ 
ment  and  religion  of  a  type,  upon  a  world  scale  not  yet 
attempted,  achieved,  or  dreamed  of  by  any  other  people. 
Other  journeys  round  the  world  and  many  other  visits 


1 64  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

to  this  spot  all  combined  had  never  made  the  deep,  pro¬ 
found  impression  of  this  hour. 

I  knew  that  of  all  the  nations  not  one  was  carrying 
such  a  load  as  this  one.  Her  tax  rate  is  now  ten  times 
higher  than  that  of  Germany,  who  keeps  herself  in 
the  papers  every  day  with  an  awful  tale  of  woe  about 
“bankruptcy” — a  word,  by  the  way,  not  heard  in  Lon¬ 
don.  Her  internal  domestic  problems  are  fierce,  from 
Ireland  to  India.  Her  unemployed  are  as  large  in  per¬ 
centage  as  any  nation  on  earth.  Her  loans  to  foreign 
powers  are  the  largest  of  any  and  no  request  does  she 
make  that  what  she  owes  to  others  be  refunded.  She 
suggests  this  for  others  of  her  allies,  but  goes  forward 
expecting  to  pay  pound  for  pound  with  interest  herself. 
Great  Britain  has  a  thousand  reasons  why  she  might 
send  out  an  “S.  O.  S.”  but  she  does  not,  and  there  is 
no  flurry,  no  turmoil,  no  whimpering,  no  sordid  por¬ 
trayal  of  collapse. 

I  had  read  in  newspaper  accounts  the  address  of  Sir 
James  M.  Barrie  upon  “Courage”  which  was  delivered 
at  St.  Andrew’s  in  Edinburgh,  and  is  well  worth  being 
read  by  the  youth  and  elders  of  all  the  world  in  any 
generation,  but  particularly  so  in  this  one.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  he  had  spoken  not  the  sentiment  of  one  man, 
but  rather  opened  all  the  secret  chambers  of  the  heart 
of  Britain  and  had  spoken  of  the  truest  character  of  a 
mighty  nation.  For  they  are  called  upon  now,  to  live 
not  by  seeing,  not  by  what  may  be  counted  in  assets,  not 
by  what  is  made  sure  in  the  future,  but  by  courage. 
While  I  stood  by  those  tokens  of  Westminster  Govern¬ 
ment  and  morals  I  had  no  desire  to  magnify  this  nation 
over  any  other,  and  I  have  no  such  inclination  now,  but 
I  could  not  and  cannot  resist  two  impulses — the  first, 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


165 

to  ask  why  this  nation  should  have,  started  upon  these 
spots  of  land  and  spread  till  the  sun  never  goes  down 
upon  its  colors ;  the  second,  to  record  the  conviction 
that  the  unchanging  peace  of  the  world  is  more  depend¬ 
ent  upon  the  good  offices  of  the  British  Empire  than  of 
any  other  one  power  in  existence.  I  hold  no  scant  view 
of  the  place  the  United  States  of  America  has  in  great 
hope  for  influencing  the  rest  of  the  world,  but  it  is 
second  in  importance  to  Britain.  Therefore  to  that 
growing  multitude  of  peace  lovers  in  the  world  it  is  of 
immense  value  to  understand  the  British  Government, 
its  past  glory  and  errors,  its  recent  service  from  1914 
to  date,  and  its  fundamental  purpose  for  the  future. 

Because  I  had  read  and  heard  so  much  of  what  might 
be  called  criticism  of  the  British  Empire  and  had  been 
often  told  it  was  to  decline  and  go  the  way  of  others 
of  great  fame  in  the  past,  I  sought  with  diligence  to 
know  every  fact  both  favorable  and  otherwise  concern¬ 
ing  it  as  I  traveled.  Even  though  I  was  passing  over 
the  same  territory  I  had  covered  three  and  four  times 
in  previous  tours,  I  sought  again  the  latest,  newest  im¬ 
pressions.  The  statements  that  follow  are  made  only 
because  they  are  believed  to  be  essential  as  elements  in 
the  fulfillment  of  the  grandest  hope  ever  cherished  by 
the  human  race,  and  in  helping  to  answer  the  mightiest 
prayer  ever  offered  to  Almighty  God ;  namely,  that  this 
world  may  speedily  become  forever  free  from  the 
devastating  effects  of  war. 

By  the  evidence  at  hand,  the  welfare  of  the  British 
Empire  and  the  peace  of  the  world  are  interlocked  and 
inseparable. 

The  British  Government  exhausted  every  avenue  to 
this  end  in  1914.  The  messages  of  Lord  Grey  in  the 


1 66  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


closing  hours  of  July  of  that  sad  year  will  be  read  a 
hundred  and  five  hundred  years  hence  as  the  witness  of 
this  nation’s  dread  of  war  in  Europe  and  hope  for  peace 
at  that  time.  All  the  vital  records  from  that  month  to 
the  last  hour  of  the  Genoa  Conference  confirm  this 
quality  as  the  truest  expression  of  British  life.  All 
actions  may  not  have  been  the  wisest — upon  this  point 
good  men  can  differ — but  the  sincere  desire  for  peace 
has  been  so  evidenced  that  no  room  for  doubt  is  left. 

That  this  power  shall  not  be  hampered  or  lost  in  the 
future,  some  facts  about  the  world  characteristics  of  the 
Empire  are  of  immense  importance  to  the  friendship 
movement  everywhere.  Personal  contact  and  persistent 
inquiry  leave  these  facts  undisputed  about  Great 
Britain’s  Government,  what  it  does,  what  it  forbids, 
what  it  really  is.  They  are  submitted  not  with  any 
reference  to  sequence  or  logic  and  not  at  all  as  bearing 
upon  international  treaties  or  alliances,  but  as  common 
facts  accepted  by  friends  and  sometimes  enemies,  and 
as  principles  essential  to  any  and  all  nations  that  really 
seek  the  good  of  the  world  in  these  perplexing  years. 

First:  The  British  Government  has  a  very  high  and 
just  respect  for  religion.  From  the  time  one  reads  this 
carved  on  the  walls  in  the  great  cities  of  the  British 
Isles — in  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral,  where  in  the  stone  steps 
is  carved  the  spot  where  Queen  Victoria  gave  thanks 
to  God  upon  her  sixtieth  anniversary,  and  in  West¬ 
minster  Abbey  where  kings  and  royalty  bow  their 
heads  in  recognition  of  the  Supreme  Ruler — out  to  the 
remotest  corner  of  the  Empire,  they  respect  religion. 
This  is  found  on  land  and  sea,  at  home  and  abroad. 
There  is,  almost  without  exception,  a  divine  service  on 
the  Sabbath  day  in  every  ship  carrying  the  British  flag. 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


167 

The  ordinary  sports  and  games  are  put  away  upon  the 
holy  day.  I  cannot  refrain  from  remembering  the 
contrast  between  Sunday  on  a  ship  flying  the  Union 
Jack  and  on  ships  of  any  other  flag.  The  latter  usually 
make  no  difference  for  Sunday,  and  sometimes  I  have 
felt  attempts  were  made  to  have  that  day  one  of  special 
hilarity.  I  regret  deeply  to  say  that  thus  far  the  ships 
flying  the  Stars  and  Stripes  have  not  been  taught  to 
observe  the  sacredness  of  this  day.  On  a  ship  of  46,000 
tons  of  a  British  line  on  the  north  Atlantic  I  saw  the 
great  lounge  filled  to  capacity  on  a  Sunday  morning 
for  “Divine  Worship”  which  was  conducted  by  the 
Master  of  the  Ship  himself  and  no  other — a  scene  the 
like  of  which  I  never  have  witnessed  on  a  ship  of  any 
other  nation  in  twenty-five  years  of  almost  annual 
voyages  somewhere.  On  land  the  stores,  shops,  fac¬ 
tories,  and  offices  close  for  that  one  day  of  rest  and 
worship  throughout  the  Empire.  The  Britisher  be¬ 
lieves  in  and  respects  religion. 

There  is  found,  however,  a  very  remarkable  quality 
in  this,  that  while  their  religion  is  intensely  of  the 
Christian  faith,  in  administerng  regions  where  other 
types  of  religion  such  as  Hinduism  and  Mohammedan¬ 
ism  abound,  they  are  equally  insistent  that  there  should 
be  free,  full,  absolute  liberty  of  conscience  to  worship 
in  every  man’s  own  peculiar  way.  In  conversation  with 
a  Hindu  leader,  an  effective  politician,  who  was  a  rather 
severe  critic  of  the  Government,  I  asked  if  he  had  ever 
heard  of  any  instance  in  which  any  official  of  the 
Government  had  in  any  manner  interfered  with  the 
liberty  of  the  Hindu  people  in  their  form  of  worship, 
and  his  quick  response  was  “No.”  I  have  not  infre¬ 
quently  heard  some  critics  say  that  this  principle  was 


1 68  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


guarded  so  carefully  that  advantage  was  given  to  oppos¬ 
ing  faiths.  The  British  Government  believes  in  Chris¬ 
tianity  as  a  religion,  they  respect  it,  they  recognize  it 
on  land,  on  sea,  in  peace,  in  war. 

The  British  Government  believes  in  the  rights  of 
religious  majorities  or  minorities,  and  does  guarantee 
to  all  protection  in  performing  their  acts  of  worship. 
This  element  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  history  of 
some  nations  which  by  force  have  compelled  religious 
conformity,  and  some  which  are  even  yet  making  this 
the  chief  factor  in  their  persecution  of  conquered  sub¬ 
jects.  A  part  of  the  secret  of  this  nation’s  power  is 
this  attitude  toward  the  divinest  thing  in  human  life. 

Second:  The  British  Government  believes  in  the 
doctrine  of  an  “open  door.”  It  is  a  genuine  pleasure  to 
remember  that  it  was  a  great  American,  the  Hon.  John 
Hay,  who  gave  widest  public  recognition  to  this  ideal, 
but  an  equally  satisfying  thing  to  observe  how  this 
world-extended  Anglo-Saxon  empire  has  practiced  it 
to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  traveled  world.  This 
statement  is  made  with  no  fear  but  that  it  can  stand  in¬ 
vestigation,  notwithstanding  many  charges  that  are 
being  brought  forward  of  incidents  said  to  disprove 
it,  with  which  the  writer  is  familiar.  Whatever  may 
have  occurred  in  the  past,  this  fact  is  sure  now:  At 
any  port  of  call  anywhere,  in  which  any  ship  of  any 
nation  en  route  upon  an  honorable  voyage  of  commerce 
sees  the  British  flag  flying  over  the  government  house, 
it  may  be  known  that  the  port  is  open  to  be  freely 
entered.  They  may  buy,  sell,  trade,  exchange,  without 
interference.  This,  once  more,  is  in  striking  contrast 
to  much  other  national  life.  The  sin  of  Europe  to-day 
is  its  closed  doors.  Its  people  may  cry  for  a  hundred 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


169 

years  about  reparations  and  geography,  but  there  will 
be  no  permanent  relief  till  they  open  the  doors  for 
travel,  trade,  and  friendly  intercourse.  A  decided  ele¬ 
ment  of  the  strength  of  the  British  Empire  is  this  open 
door  idea,  for  if  their  attitude  had  been  different  in 
the  past  they  could  not  have  survived  the  strain  of  their 
long,  thin,  natural  borders  during  the  last  three  years. 
A  closed  door  with  selfish  purposes  in  the  past  would 
have  meant  ruin  now.  Their  open  door  method  is  a 
vital  quality  in  their  enduring  strength. 

Third:  The  British  Government  believes  in  auton¬ 
omy  in  relation  to  all  parts  of  its  kingdom.  I  rather 
think  the  word  “autonomy”  was  put  upon  the  political 
map  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  Hon. 
William  McKinley,  during  the  Spanish  American  War 
as  the  principle  being  contended  for  in  reference  to 
Cuba.  President  Wilson  gave  the  idea  a  furious  jump 
forward  when  he  declared  for  “self-determination.” 
But  in  practice  this  has  been  the  cardinal  doctrine  of 
the  British  Government  for  a  good  many  years.  All 
Americans  and  most  Britishers  recall  an  hour  when 
that  idea  was  not  prevalent.  If  it  had  been  in  1770, 
the  entire  continent  of  North  America  might  now  be 
a  part  of  the  British  Empire.  King  George  III  didn’t 
hold  that  view  then.  But  later  years  and  records  have 
established  it  thoroughly.  Wide  differences  may  still 
obtain  about  the  necessity  of  the  Boer  War  in  1900. 
But  the  attitude  of  the  Government  since  has  been  gen¬ 
erous.  Within  six  months  of  the  close  of  that  war  a 
general  election  was  ordered,  all  citizens  eligible  to 
vote  anywhere  in  the  Empire  were  granted  suffrage, 
and  practically  all  the  important  offices  have  ever  since 
been  held  by  Dutchmen. 


170  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Canada,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand  are  supreme 
illustrations  of  this  conception  of  autonomy.  There 
are  many  in  the  world  who  believe  the  British  Govern¬ 
ment  has  been  too  generous  in  this  respect  with  Ireland 
and  Egypt.  Certainly  no  one  familiar  with  the  facts 
can  believe  they  are  unwilling  to  grant  India  all  that 
is  possible  without  harm  to  the  rest  of  the  world  and 
their  own  Empire.  There  may  have  been  blunders  in 
details  and  in  specific  cases,  but  surely  not  in  the  vital 
fact. 

This  doctrine  is  a  significant  quality  in  the  greatness 
of  the  solidarity  of  the  nation. 

Fourth :  The  British  Government  has  an  intense 
anxiety  for  the  human  welfare  of  all  its  people.  Whole 
volumes  could  be  well  written  by  informed  men  upon 
features  of  this  general  statement. 

No  sooner  does  this  Government’s  representative 
arrive  anywhere  than  a  general  clean-up  of  physical 
conditions  begins,  if  such  is  necessary.  I  have  inci¬ 
dents  of  this  sort  related  by  outsiders,  concerning  the 
prompt  application  .of  good  methods  of  sanitation,  the 
supplying  of  pure  water,  the  establishment  of  good 
order,  and  respect  for  law  which  came  with  the  presence 
of  this  authority,  many  of  which  have  sounded  like 
romance.  Jerusalem  “before”  and  “after”  Lord 
Allenby  would  be  a  good  illustration  for  the  seeker  after 
facts.  The  filth  was  carried  out,  the  street  rioting  was 
stopped,  and  the  brigands  were  put  in  jail.  Where 
there  was  no  decent  water  to  drink,  inside  of  three 
months  300,000  gallons  of  pure  water  per  month  was 
made  available.  All  food  for  sale  in  the  bazaar  was 
immediately  inspected  and  made  to  pass  as  number  one 
in  quality. 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


171 

The  British  open  every  door  to  education.  They  in¬ 
vite  schools.  I  heard  with  intense  interest  of  how  the 
Government  is  just  now  giving  special  grants  of  finan¬ 
cial  aid  to  anybody  conducting  standard  schools  for 
the  lowest  castes  of  India.  They  underwrite  partially 
all  the  schools  which  maintain  a  high  grade  of  efficiency. 
They  grant  support  and  property  to  hospitals,  play¬ 
grounds,  recreation  and  social  centers.  This  human 
service  in  human  ways  to  common  needy  people  is  a 
part  of  the  secret  of  Britain’s  power.  Many  unique 
elements,  some  of  which  are  peculiar  to  certain  places, 
might  be  included  but  these  mentioned  are  the  ones 
which  seemed  most  conspicuous  and  are  common  every¬ 
where. 

To  protect  this  statement  for  some  who  read  and 
may  feel  that  these  facts  are  written  by  one  who  is 
entirely  unfamiliar  with  the  other  side  of  the  story  and 
not  conscious  of  some  of  the  current  gossip,  I  think  it 
important  to  note  that  I  have  read  much  from  the  pens 
of  Lord  Northcliffe,  Colonel  Wedgewood,  and  the  sup¬ 
pressed  Horatio  Bottomley.  I  have  studied  Keyne’s 
“Economic  Results  of  the  Peace  Treaty”  and  Zim- 
mern’s  “Europe  in  Convalescence.”  I  am  not  unfa¬ 
miliar  with  the  writings  of  H.  G.  Wells,  Sir  Philip 
Gibbs,  Madison  Grant,  and  Lathrop  Stoddard.  I  have 
heard  with  lasting  profit  Dean  Inge  preach.  I  am  too 
well  acquainted  with  the  views  of  Mr.  Hearst,  and  of  a 
few  American  politicians  who  seem  to  be  able  to  keep 
in  the  public  eye  by  attacks  upon  England.  I  am  well 
aware  that  some  fearful  mistakes  have  been  made. 
“Amritsar”  and  “Colonel  Beyer”  will  long  live  in  India 
as  a  menace  to  the  good  name  of  Britain.  I  know  per¬ 
fectly  well  that  there  still  lives  a  certain  type  of 


172  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Britisher  who  does  not  know  good  manners.  He 
bullies  around  as  though  God  created  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  as  well  as  the  earth,  for  his  exclusive  use.  I 
have  some  sympathy  with  the  Englishman  who,  when 
writing  of  this  peril  in  the  Far  East,  said,  “Bad  man¬ 
ners  are  bad  enough  in  themselves,  but  if  they  persist 
now,  in  this  new-made  world,  they  will  ruin  us,  destroy 
us,  as  insolence  destroyed  Carthage,  Rome,  Spain,  and 
Potsdam.”  I  have  with  my  own  ears  heard  men  of 
this  nation  singing  “Rule  Britannia”  in  a  fashion  to 
disgust  serious  folks  who  knew  the  song  to  be  a  huge 
joke  and  an  echo  of  a  dying  philosophy.  I  know  Great 
Britain  is  drinking  enough  whisky  and  soda  to  wreck 
her  eventually  if  it  is  not  restrained.  I  heard  one  of 
her  ablest  citizens  say  that  if  they  could  save  their 
annual  drink  bill  of  about  $2,400,000,000,  with  its 
attendant  penalties,  they  could  pay  their  whole  war 
debt  in  five  years.  I  know  there  are  men  saying  that 
the  British  Empire  is  dying,  breaking  up,  and  that  its 
glory  is  in  the  past.  I  know  there  are  plenty  of  people 
who  believe  Lloyd  George  is  a  politician  and  only  a 
politician,  and  that  he  is  hanging  on  to  an  office  far 
beyond  the  day  when  he  is  of  any  good  to  his  country. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  that  it  was  a  strategic  blunder  to 
have  the  Prince  of  Wales  visit  India  in  the  winter  of 
1921  and  ’22.  Even  his  delightful  personality,  his 
democratic  manners,  his  evident  sincerity,  could  not 
balance  the  weight  of  the  deep  feeling  of  resentment 
at  this  display  and  extravagance  in  the  midst  of  India’s 
cry  for  liberty.  I  have  heard  all  this  gossip  and  read 
these  books  and  magazine  articles. 

I  also  know  there  are  a  lot  of  “funny  things”  in  Eng¬ 
land.  We  had  the  privilege  of  attending  Grand  Opera 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


173 


in  Covent  Garden.  King  George,  Queen  Alexandra, 
and  most  of  the  royal  family  were  there.  They  were 
given  a  worthy  reception  as  they  entered.  A  few  days 
later  we  attended  the  great  Derby  horse  race  at  Epsom. 
The  papers  said  a  million  people  were  there.  The  King 
and  the  royal  family  also  came.  That  night  we 
attended  a  theater,  when  I  saw  in  Leicester  Square  what 
I  thought  was  the  same  million  people  packed  to  suffo¬ 
cation  waiting  for  something.  Of  course  I  thought  the 
King  was  following  me  again.  But  upon  investigation 
I  learned  that  Donohue,  the  jockey  who  rode  “Captain 
Cuttle”  to  victory  in  the  Derby,  was  expected.  The 
ovation  given  him  made  the  King’s  seem  like  a  church 
service  in  Scotland.  That  is  a  “funny  thing.”  v 

But  of  each  of  these  sad  and  humorous  incidents  I 
also  know  the  reverse.  I  know  the  men  and  women  of 
that  noble  majority  whose  service  to  India  is  always 
kind  and  generous,  who  shudder  at  violence  or  injustice 
there.  I  know  that  host  of  larger  number  whose  man¬ 
ners  are  always  gracious,  who  are  forever  saying  “I’m 
sorry”  when  they  have  nothing  to  be  sorry  for.  I  know 
that  deeper  element  who  think  of  their  country  in  terms 
of  service  rather  than  ruling. 

I  know  that  tremendous  temperance  sentiment  which 
is  rapidly  being  organized  to  fight  out  the  liquor  ques¬ 
tion.  I  am  sure  it  is  a  potent  power,  for  already  they 
have  driven  whisky  to  its  corner  with  two  of  its  dying 
cries,  very  familiar  to  Amerca:  First,  “Don’t  meddle 
with  my  business,  for  in  doing  so  you  attack  the  divine 
right  of  personal  liberty” ;  second,  “Don’t  meddle  with 
my  business,  for  in  doing  so  you  will  cut  off  revenues 
and  bankrupt  the  nation.”  Whenever  or  wherever  the 
liquor  crowd  begin  to  say  these  things,  one  may  be  sure 


174  •  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

there  is  a  strong  temperance  movement  under  way. 
Add  to  that  the  supreme  wail,  “Prohibition  does  not 
prohibit/’  and  the  evidence  of  power  is  complete.  All 
of  these  are  now  being  heard  in  Britain. 

I  know  the  vast  number  of  God-fearing  people 
around  the  world  who  believe  Britain’s  greatest  contri¬ 
bution  to  humanity  is  in  the  years  yet  to  be — changed, 
modified,  reconstructed  surely,  but  to  live  on.  I  know 
Britain  will  have  more  prime  ministers.  The  spirit  of 
Gladstone  is  still  in  the  blood.  Return  to  my  original 
thought  leaves  me  room  to  say  that  I  have  no  ability 
which  warrants  the  assumption  of  all  knowledge  con¬ 
cerning  the  Government  of  Great  Britain.  I  have  no  de¬ 
sire  to  excuse  her  faults  or  magnify  her  virtues  unduly. 
What  is  written  is  based  on  the  most  intense  feeling  of 
a  lifetime,  that  every  possible  capacity  of  good  is  going 
to  be  necessary  to  preserve  a  suffering  humanity  from 
another  great  war. 

Peace  on  earth  is  more  important  now,  than  hope  of 
peace  for  a  millenium  in  eternity.  If  the  utter  collapse 
of  the  British  Empire  or  of  any  other  nation,  including 
my  own,  were  essential  to  that  consummation,  I  would 
hope  for  that  to  occur.  But  because  I  believe  Great 
Britain  as  a  world  power  is  seeking  that  peace,  and 
because  I  believe  such  a  condition  among  the  nations  is 
impossible  now  without  the  good  offices  of  Great 
Britain,  and  because  I  believe  the  enemies  of  inter¬ 
national  good  will  and  concord  have  been  unjustly  im¬ 
pugning  the  motives  of  this  nation,  I  have  been  led  to 
call  attention  to  these  facts. 

All  those  in  this  great  world  who  have  human  love 
for  humankind,  who  seek  peace  and  brotherhood,  ought 
to  have  warmest  sympathy  for  the  services  now  being 


GREAT  BRITAIN 


i/5 


rendered  by  this  steady  persistent  nation  of  unfailing 
courage:  Great  Britain — sometimes  in  the  wrong, 
sometimes  shortsighted,  sometimes  selfish,  sometimes 
very  “peculiar” — she  is  a  true  friend  of  World  Peace. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


AMERICA 


“For  unto  whom  much  is  given  from  him  shall  much  be  re¬ 
quired.” 

“In  spite  of  our  complete  divorcement  of  church  and  state, 
quite  in  harmony  with  our  religious  freedom,  there  is  an  im¬ 
portant  relationship  between  church  and  nation,  because  no  nation 
can  prosper,  no  nation  can  survive,  if  it  ever  forgets  Almighty 
God.  I  have  believed  that  religious  reverence  has  played  a  very 
influential  and  helpful  part  in  the  matchless  American  achieve¬ 
ments,  and  I  wish  it  ever  to  abide.  If  I  were  to  utter  a  prayer 
for  the  republic  to-night,  it  would  be  to  reconsecrate  us  in 
religion  and  devotion  and  make  us  abidingly  a  God-fearing,  God- 
loving  people.” — President  Warren  G.  Harding,  in  an  address 
to  the  Bible  Class  of  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  Washington,  D.  C. 

“It  is  gradually  dawning  upon  the  intelligence  of  mankind 
that  if  they  want  to  avoid  going  along  the  old  ways  which 
lead  to  wars,  it  is  America  that  matters  most,  America  and 
Britain.  America  more  than  Britain.  Americans  do  not  grab.” — 
Colonel  J.  C.  Wedgewood,  M.  P. 

“It  is  in  the  power  of  America  to  rescue  the  world  or  lead  it 
to  ruin.” — The  Daily  Yorodzu,  Tokyo. 

AFTER  a  long  period  away  from  home,  a  ship  on 
the  Atlantic  bound  for  New  York  is  a  good  place 
on  which  to  get  a  right  perspective  of  America  by 
an  American.  An  earlier  chapter  entitled  “In  the  Heart 
of  America”  remained  a  sort  of  anchorage  during 
periods  of  many  kinds  of  estimates,  good,  bad,  and 
indifferent,  heard  in  many  kinds  of  countries.  Nothing 

176 


AMERICA 


1 77 


has  changed  that  essential  view  of  what  America  is 
now,  but  intervening  experiences  have  raised  a  multi¬ 
tude  of  questions  about  the  long,  long  years  which  are 
yet  to  be.  What  this  great  nation  will  be  one  hundred, 
five  hundred,  and  a  thousand  years  hence  is  a  more 
complicated  question,  by  far,  than  the  mere  recitation 
of  present  facts.  I  have  traveled  over  lands  now  in 
ruins  which  were  once  the  home  of  nations  with  a  glory 
of  wealth  and  splendor  and  population  never  equaled 
from  New  York  harbor  to  the  Golden  Gate.  I  have 
also  been  through  others  of  more  recent  power  which 
are  surely  crumbling,  breaking  down,  and  on  their  way 
to  oblivion.  It  has,  therefore,  been  impossible  many 
times  to  restrain  the  question,  “What  is  America’s  real 
destiny?”  “What  has  the  distant  future  in  store  for 
this  favored  people?”  I  know  there  is  a  type  of  pro¬ 
vincial,  untutored,  untamed,  loud-talking  American, 
who  declares  our  country  to  be  the  grandest  of  all 
history  up  to  date,  and  with  boisterous  confidence  avows 
it  will  be  forever  greatest  and  will  eventually  swallow 
up  the  whole  earth.  Out  of  many  wanderings  my  re¬ 
turn  now  brings  this  kind  to  memory  with  more  pity 
and  disgust  than  ever.  This  loud-mouthed,  swagger¬ 
ing,  boasting  character  is  not  only  a  travesty  upon  the 
country,  but  a  positive  menace  to  the  good  friendship 
America  so  much  wishes  to  enjoy  with  other  races  and 
nations.  Every  time  he  shouts  about  America’s  great¬ 
ness  the  country  loses  prestige  among  thinking  folks, 
and  her  stock  goes  lower. 

On  the  deck  of  the  ship  I  met  one  of  America’s  truly 
great  men,  who  had  also  been  traveling  around  the 
world.  He  said,  “Out  of  your  contacts  with  these 
various  countries  which  one  are  you  most  concerned 


.178  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

about,  which  one  is  most  dangerous?”  Without  delay 
I  answered,  much  to  his  surprise,  “America.”  He  was 
thinking,  I  doubt  not,  of  where  there  was  most  peril 
of  war  breaking  out  immediately.  I  was  thinking  of 
those  forces  necessary  to  produce  enduring  pfeace  and 
an  enduring  nation. 

It  would  take  a  congress  of  the  wisest  men,  repre¬ 
senting  all  the  varied  life  of  the  nation,  even  to 
approach  a  prophetic  program  adequate  to  this  future, 
but  one  thing  is  absolutely  certain  and  needs  to  be 
written  over  every  activity  of  the  country’s  life.  If 
America  is  to  remain  great,  she  must  follow  a  phi¬ 
losophy  of  national  and  international  life  which  is 
different  from  that  of  the  older  powers.  She  must  be 
saved  from  gradually  adopting  the  old  creeds  of  greed, 
jealousy,  selfishness,  love  of  territorial  expansion,  and 
hope  of  life  by  the  means  of  force,  and  by  war  in 
emergencies.  These  have  been  tried  in  the  balance  and 
found  wanting.  These  are  the  surest  route  to  destruc¬ 
tion.  I  would  feel  a  greater  degree  of  confidence  for 
the  far  future  if  I  was  certain  that  the  whole  nation 
was  convinced  that  we  must  be  different.  There  would 
doubtless  be  many  long  struggles  in  finding  that  dif¬ 
ferent  way,  but  they  would  be  filled  with  hope  if  the 
people  were  united  in  searching  for  a  national  life 
which  would  be  free  from  the  pits  into  which  so  many 
others  have  fallen. 

I,  therefore,  look  to  the  west  over  the  bow  of  a  great 
ship,  restless  for  a  sign  of  the  shores  of  that  land  out 
of  which  I  was  born,  and  ready  to  salute  the  flags 
floating  from  Forts  Hamilton  and  Wadsworth  and  to 
kiss  the  Statue  of  Liberty  if  I  am  so  permitted  to  do. 
But  anxious  for  America,  as  not  hitherto.  Having 


AMERICA 


179 


looked  forward  to  the  same  homecoming,  up  the  same 
matchless  harbor,  upon  more  than  a  score  of  other 
occasions,  I  do  not  remember  any  similar  feeling  of 
anxiety  and,  to  a  degree,  of  uncertainty.  Will  travelers 
and  tourists  some  day  point  to  these  shores  and  tell  of  a 
glory  once  unparalleled  but  long  since  departed? 

This  feeling  of  anxiety  is  cherished,  because  America 
must  continue  to  be  worthy  of  the  noble  name  she  has 
now  in  the  great  wide  world.  I  have  been  profoundly 
impressed  all  the  way  by  the  expressions  of  almost  ex¬ 
travagant  appreciation  spoken  by  people  of  every  place. 
There  is  a  feeling,  which  nearly  reaches  the  mystical 
at  times,  that  our  country  and  our  people  can  do  any¬ 
thing  they  will  to  do.  There  is  also  a  feeling  in  many 
places  that  we  are  waiting  to  see  how  the  rest  of  the 
world  acts  and  that  if  they  do  not  do  as  we  think  they 
ought,  then  we  will  properly  step  in  at  the  psychological 
moment  and  regulate  the  whole  thing.  I  heard  great 
men  in  China  say,  “We  are  placing  our  hope  in  your 
country,  to  see  that  we  get  fair  play.”  I  had  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  Indians  say  about  the  same  thing,  in  an  in¬ 
terview  in  which  they  implored  me  to  present  their 
problem  to  the  highest  officials  of  the  United  States. 
In  Constantinople  I  was  told  by  men  representing  every 
side  of  that  fearful  complication  that  any  word  America 
would  speak  would  be  accepted.  The  voices  of  the 
Greek  and  Armenian  Patriarchs  there  were  like  a  prayer 
as  they  pleaded  for  our  nation’s  help.  Greece,  Bul¬ 
garia,  Jugo-Slavia,  Hungary,  Austria,  and  Czecho¬ 
slovakia  say  the  same  in  some  form.  At  Belgrade  a 
Major  of  the  Serbian  Army  took  us  to  the  monument, 
in  a  park  overlooking  the  Danube,  which  was  built  by 
the  Kaiser  to  commemorate  the  spot  where  the  first 


180  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


shot  of  the  Great  War  was  fired,  and  where  he  had 
placed  a  huge  painting  of  himself,  as  he  expected  to  sit 
there  and  view  the  glories  of  his  victory.  But  now 
instead  of  his  portrait  the  crown  of  the  new  nation  is 
displayed.  As  the  officer  reviewed  the  incident  and 
told  of  the  gratitude  of  the  Serbs  he  said,  “We  owe 
all  this  to  American  dollars  more  than  to  French  and 
British  bullets.”  Even  France  and  Great  Britain  are 
saying  they  cannot  hope  for  real  solutions  unless 
America  will  stay  by  and  help.  It  is  just  one  continuous 
query  from  one  nation  to  the  next,  from  one  city  to  the 
next,  from  one  individual  to  the  next,  “What  is 
America  going  to  do?”  I  do  not  believe  all  the  world, 
ever  before  in  history,  has  turned  to  one  nation  with 
such  longing  expectation  as  it  now  turns  to  America. 
This  of  itself  is  a  solemn  responsibility. 

At  this  point  it  is  very  interesting  to  observe  that  the 
United  States  has  clearly  entered  upon  a  world  career. 
Regardless  of  politics  or  statutes  or  party  platforms, 
the  world  scope  of  American  life  is  begun.  This  may 
have  been  going  on  little  by  little  before  1914  or  1917, 
but  when  we  entered  the  scene  of  conflict  and  said  by 
so  doing  that  a  European  war  did  affect  us,  the  last 
barrier  was  passed  and  the  new  young  republic  of  the 
West  was  a  world  affair,  never  to  be  the  same  again.  A 
new  page  in  history  was  to  be  written  and  a  new  na¬ 
tional  psychology  had  to  be  reckoned  with.  There  may 
be  a  large  element  of  doubt  about  how  successful  the 
career  will  be,  but  it  has  commenced.  To  stop  it  would 
be  as  difficult  as  to  interrupt  the  growth  of  a  healthy 
twelve-year-old  boy.  “Isolation’'  is  impossible.  It  may 
still  be  a  good  platform  expression  for  a  certain  species 
of  politician  who  is  found  in  Idaho  or  in  Calfornia  or 


AMERICA 


181 


in  parts  of  Missouri,  but  it  does  not  represent  the  best 
in  any  one  of  those  states,  and  cannot  survive  in  the 
nation.  A  traveler  is  led  to  observe  with  satisfaction 
that  America  has  accepted  her  share  of  the  mandate  for 
the  good  morals  of  the  world.  The  voluntary  gifts 
poured  out  in  the  realm  of  philanthropy  by  the  people 
of  our  land  have  simply  staggered  the  world  by  their 
magnitude.  Sixty-eight  million  dollars  spent  in  various 
forms  of  relief  in  Russia  alone  since  1918  by  American 
societies  is  an  item  that  evokes  universal  comments  of 
praise.  A  Scotchman  said  to  me,  “We  stand  aghast  at 
your  American  benevolences.”  The  American  Relief 
Association,  the  Near  East  Relief,  the  European 
Student  Relief,  the  Red  Cross,  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women’s  Christian 
Association,  the  Young  People's  Movements,  the  Sun¬ 
day  School  Association,  the  missionary  societies,  and 
the  educational  boards  are  on  the  march  to  the  utter¬ 
most  parts  of  the  earth  with  magnificent  programs,  and 
no  hint  of  danger  from  entangling  alliances  is  heard  in 
their  circles.  They  have  accepted  the  common  duty  of 
all  to  help  all  in  the  struggle  of  life.  They  have  no 
small  nationalistic  borders  to  their  vision,  and  no  small 
“Main  Street”  vocabulary.  I  know  no  language  to 
express  properly  the  sense  of  appreciation  which  was 
manifest  in  every  place  toward  the  Americans’  gen¬ 
erosity  in  the  realm  of  morals,  welfare,  education,  and 
religion.  It  is  the  truest  token  of  the  highest  there  is 
to  be  found  in  American  life. 

In  the  presence  of  this  unequaled  era  of  munificent 
giving  for  humanitarian  purposes,  however,  we  as  a 
people  need  to  be  reminded  that  this  alone  is  not  our  full 
duty.  There  are  those  who  perhaps  sincerely  believe 


1 82  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


that  this  function  is  all  that  is  required  to  meet  what  is 
called  responsibility  in  cooperation.  Alfred  E.  Zim- 
mem  in  his  book  “Europe  in  Convalescence,”  in  speak¬ 
ing  of  this  as  a  peril,  says : 

“The  English-speaking  peoples  are  giant  givers  and 
it  is  ungracious  to  criticise  what  is  a  golden  virtue. 
But  money  given  by  private  individuals,  in  a  tardy 
attempt  to  cure  what  should  have  been  prevented  by 
public  policy,  carries  with  it  less  than  the  usual  blessing. 
It  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  that  charity  is  no  sub¬ 
stitute  for  justice.” 

In  addition  to  these  foreign  expressions  of  America’s 
altruistic  spirit,  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  on  Prohi¬ 
bition  is  talked  of  to  the  most  remote  corner  of  the 
world  as  an  index  of  the  nation’s  tremendous  moral  en¬ 
thusiasm.  I  spoke  at  luncheon  and  dinner  functions, 
where  in  many  cases  the  tables  did  not  give  the  im¬ 
pression  of  a  “bone-dry”  affair,  but  where  reference 
to  the  persistent  determination  of  the  American  people 
to  keep  that  law  and  enforce  it,  was  applauded  with 
vigor.  Men  are  saying  that  any  nation  with  courage 
enough  to  carry  out  such  a  program  as  that  is  worthy 
of  the  highest  esteem.  America  is  meeting  this  moral 
challenge  at  home  and  abroad  not  perfectly,  but  very 
well,  but  she  must  do  more. 

America  has  also  accepted  a  mandate  in  the  financial 
and  economic  world  conditions.  I  have  not  met  any 
man  in  travel,  neither  have  I  read  an  article  in  any 
paper  or  magazine  intimating  that  United  States  money 
and  products  and  economic  genius  ought  to  be  kept  at 
home.  The  men  of  power  in  this  field  do  not  seem  to 
be  afraid  of  being  contaminated  even  by  European  con- 


AMERICA 


183 

ditions  in  1922,  when  at  their  worst  in  history.  They 
are  not  shouting  about  the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  exclu¬ 
sive  Americanism.  They  are  on  a  regular  crusade  for 
business.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Wall  Street  banks 
are  engaged  in  “moratoriums,”  “consortiums,”  big 
loans,  and  buying  bonds.  They  have  started  on  a 
world  scale.  Also  I  observed  that  South  Bend  sewing 
machines,  Detroit  automobiles,  Jersey  City  soaps,  Bos¬ 
ton  razors  and  garters,  Hartford  typewriters,  Wichita 
mentholatum,  New  York  City  gasolene,  Pittsburgh 
pickles,  Poughkeepsie  cough  drops,  Chicago  reapers 
and  mowers,  California  peaches  and  grapes,  Penn¬ 
sylvania  steel  and  iron,  and  a  hundred  other  worthy 
enterprises  have  cut  the  lines  of  all  littleness  and 
launched  out  into  vast  internationalism.  No  place  so 
remote  could  be  found  without  running  smack  into 
the  world-entangling  economic  sweep  of  these  American 
schemes.  The  men  of  business  are  far  too  sensible  to 
sit  in  a  snug  corner  and  talk  about  geographical  limits 
to  their  efforts.  They  believe  in  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  and  are  going  there.  I  was  proud  to  know 
that  their  contribution  is,  generally  speaking,  making 
a  good  impression.  I  am  quite  certain  the  reputation  of 
the  American  business  man  is  better  than  it  was  in 
1913,  when  I  had  watched  the  earlier  beginnings  of 
this  phase  of  our  life  in  many  of  the  same  countries. 
It  is  not  perfect,  much  is  to  be  desired,  but  it  is  on  the 
whole  good. 

But  even  greater  anxiety  is  felt  for  America  and  her 
future  because  she  must  continue  to  follow  these  world 
impulses  to  their  logical  and  final  conclusion.  They 
must  be  accepted  where  they  are  most  needed  and  where 
they  have  more  influence  than  at  any  other  point.  We 


184  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

feel  the  moral  command  to  be  our  brother’s  keeper 
without  regard  to  geography.  We  ask  the  right  to  go 
anywhere  at  any  time  to  conduct  business  with  anybody 
and  demand  protection,  and  by  the  law  of  common 
decency  we  ought  to  carry  the  principles  clear  through 
and  assume  all  that  inheres  in  such  a  philosophy.  The 
following  quotation  from  the  correspondent  Mr.  O.  P. 
Bland  is  given  as  a  remark  made  to  him  by  the  late 
Willard  D.  Straight,  and  is  worthy  of  real  considera¬ 
tion  by  all  honest  Americans : 

“Read  the  history  of  our  diplomatic  relations,  which 
is  full  of  inconsistencies,  where  we  have  demanded  full 
recognition  not  only  of  our  rights  but  of  our  privi¬ 
leges,  and  failed  to  accord  just  compensation  to  those 
whom  we  ourselves  had  injured  or  imposed  upon. 
Time  and  again  we  have  demanded  our  share  in  the 
international  pie  and  refused  or  failed  to  furnish  the 
fuel  for  cooking  it  or  to  assume  any  responsibility  for 
its  proper  digestion.” 

As  the  world  sees  our  mandate  accepted  in  the  realm 
of  philanthropy,  and  witnesses  the  desire  ever  growing 
to  profit  by  the  commercial  relations,  it  is  bewildered 
when  it  hears  that  we  have  a  high  and  holy  horror  of 
being  asked  to  assume  vital  relationships  to  perfectly 
simple  and  necessary  political  responsibilities.  In  con¬ 
versation  with  Dr.  W.  W.  Yen  in  Peking,  who  was 
then  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  he  said:  “We  can’t 
quite  understand  you  and  your  country.  You  seem  to 
have  two  kinds  of  life — one  moral,  religious,  and 
philanthropic.  This  one  is  very  noble  and  generous. 
It  led  Mr.  Rockefeller  to  give  us  our  great  hospital. 
But  the  other  is  political  and  it  seems  to  be  narrow, 


AMERICA 


185 

selfish,  and  unworthy/’  This  is  the  view  of  the  world, 
and  the  unfavorable  change  in  sentiment,  very  marked 
during  the  past  two  years,  is  because  many  friends  of 
a  short  while  back  believe  that  this  lower,  baser  type 
has  come  to  prevail. 

America  is  at  the  crossroads,  and  in  a  short  time  will 
have  accepted  a  philosophy,  which  will  do  one  of  two 
things  for  her  eventual  destiny.  First,  she  may  permit 
a  little  clique  of  small,  selfish-minded  politicians  to 
dragoon  her  into  the  “America  First,”  “Keep  out  of 
entangling  alliances,”  “Remember  the  Monroe  Doc¬ 
trine”  idea.  These  so  styled  “irreconcilables”  have 
already  blackened  the  good  name  of  America  in  the 
estimation  of  high-minded  people  in  every  nation  on 
earth.  If  they  should  finally  prevail  and  the  selfish 
theory  become  a  national  characteristic,  then  there  is 
defeat  ahead  somewhere,  some  day,  for  this  proud 
nation  of  power  to-day.  Second,  she  may  brush  this 
selfish  cult  aside  and  follow  the  noble  impulses  for 
universal  service,  and  in  doing  so  accept  political  man¬ 
dates,  accept  world  responsibilities,  in  the  field  of 
diplomacy  as  well  as  in  morals  and  money.  If  history 
means  anything,  and  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  still 
exists,  then  by  the  choice  of  one  of  these  two  doctrines 
America  will  remain  great  and  be  greater  or  she  will 
begin  to  shrivel  and,  while  the  process  may  be  slow, 
she  will  eventually  go  out  as  others  have  who  have  tried 
to  live  for  themselves  alone.  There  is  just  one  supreme 
issue  in  America  to-day  and  that  is  to  make  secure  the 
second  principle.  The  accomplishment  of  this  end 
ought  to  engage  the  energies  of  every  man  and  woman 
who  sincerely  loves  the  nation. 

Lest  the  attitude  of  the  writer  be  interpreted  as  that 


1 86  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


of  one  who  himself  was  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Presi¬ 
dential  election  of  1920,  it  is  important  to  say  that  he 
voted  for  the  Hon.  Warren  G.  Harding  for  that  office 
and  worked  for  the  success  of  that  ticket  and  has  thus 
far  had  no  reason  to  regret  that  action.  He  would  do 
the  same  again  by  what  knowledge  he  has.  Decision 
was  based  then  upon  Mr.  Harding’s  attitude  toward 
the  Eighteenth  Amendment  and  also  upon  a  lack  of 
confidence  in  the  Covenant  of  the  League  of  Nations 
and  certain  elements  of  the  Versailles  Treaty.  None  of 
these  has  changed.  He  was  also  largely  influenced  by  a 
personal  interview  with  Mr.  Harding  on  October  5, 
1920,  and  by  the  following  personal  letter  received 
under  date  of  October  22,  1920: 

“Marion,  Ohio, 

“October  22,  1920. 

“My  dear  Mr.  Smith  : 

“I  greatly  regret  that  the  plans  made  for  me  by  the 
National  Committee  have  made  it  impossible  to  carry 
out  the  tentative  arrangement  we  had  made  for  a 
meeting  with  the  delegation  of  clergymen  here.  I 
should  have  welcomed  this  opportunity  to  meet  with 
these  men  who  have  so  much  to  do  with  the  guidance 
of  our  people  in  matters  which  affect  our  welfare  as  a 
people,  for  our  welfare  is  concerned,  not  only  with  the 
material  things  of  life,  but  with  our  spiritual,  moral, 
and  ethical  progress. 

“The  home  and  the  church  are  the  foundations  and 
bulwarks  of  our  civilization,  and  the  public  men  of  the 
country  and  the  ministers  of  the  churches  should  be 
brought  into  frequent  contact  for  their  mutual  enlight¬ 
enment  and  for  the  uniting  of  their  efforts  for  the 
common  good. 

“I  should  like  to  have  impressed  upon  these  men 


AMERICA 


187 

that  my  announced  position  with  reference  to  our  part 
in  the  world  movement  for  world  peace  did  not  indi¬ 
cate  any  desire  to  fail  to  recognize  our  duties  and 
responsibilities'  as  a  Christian  nation,  but  that  it  was 
formed  out  of  a  conviction  that  the  proposed  League 
of  Nations  would  endanger  rather  than  preserve  that 
peace  and  that  at  the  same  time  it  would  sacrifice  our 
independence  and  endanger  the  liberties  which  we  have 
secured  for  ourselves  at  such  great  cost  but  which  we 
hope  to  aid  other  nations  in  acquiring. 

“I  should  like  to  have  said  to  them  directly  that  I 
am  committed  morally,  religiously,  and  politically  to 
every  movement  which  will  aid  the  United  States  to  a 
reconsideration  of  the  principles  of  morality,  honesty, 
and  spirituality,  which  marked  the  Pilgrim  settlements 
upon  our  shores  and  which  laid  the  foundations  for  the 
first  enduring  Republican  government. 

“Upon  one  of  the  issues  in  which  the  Church  has  ex¬ 
pressed  naturally  a  great  interest  I  should  have  said  to 
them  that  I  stand  by  my  vote  upon  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment;  that  I  would  not  recall  it;  that  I  would 
oppose  the  reestablishment  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating 
liquors  and  that,  if  elected,  I  would  do  my  part  to  se¬ 
cure  the  enforcement  of  the  law  with  all  the  power 
vested  in  the  Executive. 

“And  I  would  have  asked  these  men  of  the  churches 
to  have  remembered  that  a  successful  administration 
of  the  office  of  President  requires  that  he  shall  have 
back  of  him  in  all  his  worthy  aims  and  purposes  a  con¬ 
stantly  aroused  and  enlightened  public  sentiment  and 
that  to  produce  such  sentiment  would  be  in  a  large  part 
their  work  and  their  responsibility. 

“If  you  have  opportunity,  will  you  not  convey  to  the 
men  of  the  Church  who  have  proposed  to  honor  me 
with  a  visit  and  to  other  clergymen  whom  you  meet, 
the  sentiments  which  I  have  indicated  and  which  are 


1 88  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


sincerely  held  by  me  and  to  which  I  am  pledged 
officially  and  as  a  churchman  and  a  believer  in  the 
Master  ? 

“Very  sincerely, 

“Warren  G.  Harding. 

“Fred  B.  Smith,  Esq., 

“New  York.” 

I  believe  the  President  is  honestly  trying  to  carry  out 
those  promises  and  that  but  for  a  certain  kind  of  politi¬ 
cal  heckling  and  blocking  he  would  have  been  much 
further  on  the  way  than  he  is  now. 

This  is  not  written  as  a  defense  of  myself  or  any 
others  who  followed  the  same  course  then.  That  may 
have  been  error;  time  alone  can  answer  that  question. 
This  comment  as  a  parenthetical  remark  is  given,  that 
even  more  value  may  be  accorded  to  this  view  of  the 
overwhelming  importance  of  America’s  accepting  now, 
fully,  in  all  respects,  the  doctrine  of  world  cooperation, 
instead  of  international  welfare  service  only  and  na¬ 
tional  political  isolation. 

I  believe  this  choice  is  paramount  for  America:  In 
the  first  place  that  the  streams  of  her  own  life  may  be 
kept  pure  and  strong.  There  is  a  law  as  scientific  as 
anything  ever  worked  out  in  the  laboratory  that  “with¬ 
holding  more  than  is  meet  tendeth  to  poverty.” 
America  is  rich  now  beyond  all  others  and  will  be  so 
for  generations  to  come.  I  am  to-day  reminded  of  the 
poverty  through  which  I  have  passed  during  these 
months,  covering  more  than  three  fourths  of  the  entire 
distance — people  by  millions  whose  daily  theme  of  con¬ 
versation  still  remains,  “How  big  was  your  piece  of 
bread  to-day?”  I  am  reminded  of  what  I  shall  see  in 
a  few  days — rich  fields,  well  fed  and  clothed  people, 


AMERICA 


189 

factories  running,  banks  prospering.  “More  million¬ 
aires  three  times  over  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
put  together” — so  a  banker  in  Austria  said  in  describing 
our  country.  All  of  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
I  notice  some  American  papers  still  talking  about 
“business  depression.”  As  compared  with  the  other 
parts  of  the  world  such  talk  ought  to  appear  only  in  the 
funny  columns  of  Life ,  or  ought  to  be  inserted  in  the 
“Death  Notices”  page  with  heavy  black  lines  around  it. 
America  is  so  rich  that  the  statisticians  are  running  out 
of  ciphers  enough  to  convey  the  actual  figures.  America 
is  the  only  place  on  earth  where  they  sell  the  book 
entitled,  “Eat  and  Grow  Thin,”  or  where  Walter 
Camp’s  reducing  records  are  on  the  market.  What  will 
she  do  with  this  power?  This  is  more  vital  than  tax 
rates  or  the  Bolsheviki  movement.  Mr.  Franklin 
Simonds,  the  newspaper  correspondent,  wrote  an 
article  recently  telling  of  the  shock  which  came  to  him 
in  returning  from  a  tour  through  Europe  to  see  the 
contrast  in  what  was  talked  of  in  America  and  Europe. 
He  said  there  seemed  to  be  more  interest  in  the  United 
States  in  the  baseball  score  than  in  the  destiny  of  the 
human  race. 

If  an  era  of  high  living,  ease,  indulgence,  and  luxury 
has  commenced,  all  that  is  needed  to  know  the  future 
is  to  study  the  nations,  from  ancient  Persia  to  Rome, 
where  once  the  people  lived  by  that  theory  and  remem¬ 
ber  what  happened  to  them.  Luxury  and  soft  living 
have  left  a  train  of  destruction  and  death,  with  never 
an  exception.  America  ought  to  hear  no  call  to  small¬ 
ness,  no  lure  to  selfishness.  She  needs  the  voice  of 
service,  of  sacrifice,  of  cooperation  to  save  her  own  soul 
from  defeat  by  an  easy  life.  The  greatest  teacher  of 


190  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

% 

mankind  left  as  one  of  His  finest  principles  the  slogan, 
“He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it.”  It  is  as  true  in 
collective  relationships  as  in  the  experience  of  an  in¬ 
dividual. 

In  the  second  place,  America  must  follow  this  prin¬ 
ciple  of  complete  cooperation,  that  she  may  do  her  full 
duty  in  preserving  the  world  from  more  disaster.  I  met 
one  of  New  York  City’s  greatest  citizens  on  the  ship, 
who  talked  of  the  terrible  situation  of  atrocities  and  the 
peril  of  armed  conflict  in  the  zone  of  Constantinople. 
After  he  had  covered  the  range  of  that  unthinkable  con¬ 
dition,  with  millions  having  been  hastened  to  death 
and  more  doomed  to  the  same  end  and  of  the  probable 
fact  that  only  guns  and  soldiers  would  ever  quiet  it,  he 
said,  “And  I  believe  America  is  to  blame  for  it  and 
could  have  prevented  it.”  His  name  is  known  all  over 
the  nation  for  benevolence  and  good  works.  He  is  a 
Republican  in  politics  and  voted  for  the  present  ad¬ 
ministration.  He  is  a  patriot  of  high  order.  Yet  this 
was  his  conclusion  as  to  one  result  of  American  isola¬ 
tion.  This  terrible  indictment  is  shared  by  thousands  of 
people  the  world  around.  One  public  official  of  a  nation 
which  remained  neutral  during  the  war  said  to  me,  “If 
more  war  breaks  out  here  in  Europe,  as  now  seems 
probable,  I  believe  it  will  be  America’s  fault.  Your 
country  could  stop  it  and  it  is  the  only  country  which 
can.”  If  these  gentlemen  are  right  or  half  right,  there 
is  no  other  question  of  duty  so  important  since  1776 
as  that  America  shall  stop  quibbling,  stop  evading,  stop 
listening  to  politicians  who  are  most  concerned  about 
votes,  stop  heeding  newspaper  articles  from  a  source 
which  was  never  known  to  do  an  unselfish  service,  and 
wholeheartedly  without  reservation  walk  in  and  sit  at 


AMERICA 


191 

the  table  where  serious  men  try  to  fathom  the  depths 
of  the  complications  left  by  the  war. 

I  have  no  desire  to  exalt  one  nation  over  another  at 
this  time;  far  too  much  of  that  has  been  done  already. 
Neither  have  I  any  desire  to  irritate  the  questions 
between  the  Entente  Allies  and  the  former  Central 
Powers.  But,  with  charity  to  all,  America  needs  to 
be  furiously  reminded  that  Great  Britain  needs  the  help 
of  the  rest  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  constituency,  to  hold  the 
line  she  has  marked  out  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
world.  Lloyd  George  may  have  been  very  fallible  and 
weak  at  times,  and  all  the  rest  that  is  said  of  him.  But 
he  is  not  Great  Britain,  he  is  only  Prime  Minister. 
Britain  at  heart  is  contending  for  the  principles  we  hold 
and  needs  our  vote  and  presence  in  every  trying  hour. 
She  was  generous  to  the  United  States’  view  in  the 
Washington  Conference,  and  if  America  loves  liberty 
and  peace  and  brotherhood  and  a  square  deal,  then  she 
ought  to  take  her  place  and  help  in  all  other  such  criti¬ 
cal  periods.  The  peace  of  the  world  cannot  be  secured 
without  the  unfailing  solidarity  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
people.  And  this  solidarity  is  not  possible  so  long  as 
America  holds  aloof  with  a  ‘‘holier  than  thou”  sort  of 
political  philosophy. 

In  the  third  place,  this  principle  of  world  coopera¬ 
tion  is  vital  to  America  if  we  are  to  fulfill  the  high 
purposes  we  professed  in  1917  and  1918.  Ambassador 
Harvey  gave  the  whole  world  a  rude  shock  in  his  fam¬ 
ous  London  speech,  when  he  said  that  America  entered 
the  war  “to  save  her  own  skin.”  Reduced  to  its  logical 
conclusion,  that  meant  that  liberty  and  democracy  were 
not  vital  things  in  our  life,  but  that  we  would  fight  if 
our  own  interests  were  involved.  How  poorly  he  rep- 


192  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

resented  the  people  of  his  own  country  was  made  known 
by  the  storm  of  indignation  which  swept  over  the  land. 
People  of  all  parties  were  outraged  by  such  insolence 
and  by  such  an  interpretation.  How  poorly  he  repre¬ 
sented  the  White  House  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that 
he  has  not  since  given  way  to  any  more  bursts  of  that 
type  of  oratory.  Colonel  Harvey  said  it  and  no  doubt 
meant  and  probably  thinks  so  now.  But  at  least  a 
hundred  million  other  Americans  do  not  accept  that 
definition.  However,  the  philosophy  of  isolation,  of 
refusal  to  help  carry  the  burdens  of  the  world’s  an¬ 
guish  which  came  as  one  of  the  results  of  a  war  in 
which  we  were  engaged,  will  finally  lead  the  rest  of 
mankind  to  think  he  was  correct,  notwithstanding  our 
protests  and  contradictions. 

Already  it  is  being  freely  noted  that  when  the  Pacific 
Ocean  looked  threatening  and  Japan  was  being  talked 
of  as  a  coming  foe,  the  Washington  Conference  was 
called  for  the  limitation  of  armaments  and  the  Pacific 
problems.  Everybody  accepted  the  invitation  and  the 
results  were  so  good  that  the  war  peril  is  far  removed 
from  the  western  border  of  the  United  States.  Soon 
after  that,  however,  the  Genoa  Conference  was  called; 
we  were  invited  but  didn’t  think  it  expedient  to  accept 
and  graciously  declined.  It  is  very  natural  for  Europe 
to  think  and  say  that  this  looks  as  though  Colonel  Har¬ 
vey  was  right.  Genoa  didn’t  get  along  very  well  and 
has  left  Europe  in  gloom.  It  might  have  done  better 
if  we  had  been  there.  I  have  heard  no  one  question  the 
high  motives  of  President  Harding  or  of  Secretary  of 
State  Hughes.  Their  names  are  synonyms  of  justice, 
peace,  and  good  will.  But  the  people  in  distant  parts 
think  we  were  again  kept  out  of  a  place  of  service  to 


AMERICA 


193 


the  world  by  the  fear  of  the  same  group  of  home¬ 
brewed  politicians.  I  believe  there  is  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  America  would  have  been  at  Genoa  if  there 
had  been  any  danger  in  securing  the  ratification  of  the 
Pacific  treaties.  But  folks  just  can’t  help  feeling  that 
our  immediate  “skin”  was  in  danger  at  Washington 
and  not  at  Genoa.  Other  conferences  and  assemblies 
are  going  to  be  held,  and  some  Society  or  Association 
or  League  of  Nations  will  live,  and  America  must  par¬ 
ticipate  or  be  branded  as  a  selfish  quitter.  The  peril  to 
humanity  by  the  world  situation  now  is  more  dangerous 
than  in  1917.  It  is  more  alarming  than  in  March,  1918. 
America  didn’t  quit  then.  Her  contribution  of  men, 
money,  and  morale  saved  the  world  in  those  dark  hours. 
She  has  men,  money,  vision,  influence,  and  courage  now. 
The  need,  the  emergency,  the  impelling  necessity,  are 
greater.  She  must  enter  the  scene  and  help  to  the 
utmost,  or  accept  the  verdict  of  humanity  that 
she  responds  only  when  her  own  skin  is  attacked, 
and  carry  in  her  own  heart  a  consciousness  of  cow¬ 
ardice. 

The  most  prominent  leaders  in  eighteen  nations  be¬ 
lieve  that  at  present  Europe  is  headed  to  financial  ruin 
and,  worse  still,  to  another  war,  and  also  that  the  whole¬ 
hearted  unselfish  cooperation  of  America  may  avert 
both  tragedies.  If  another  war  should  come,  with  its 
harvest  of  death,  disease,  and  starvation,  and  the  judg¬ 
ment  should  be  that  our  failure  to  help  was  the  indirect 
cause,  it  will  form  the  saddest  page  in  all  history. 
America  is  glorious  in  fields  and  harvests,  in  men  and 
women  of  courage  and  vision,  in  the  place  she  has  in 
the  affections  of  the  world,  and  in  influence.  She  must 
not  permit  an  insignificant  minority  to  defeat  her  ful- 


194  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

fillment  of  the  truest  love  she  cherishes  for  the  peace, 
concord,  and  brotherhood  of  all  the  world. 

Once  again,  I  am  led  to  remember  that  all  the  sources 
of  correct  information  have  left  the  impression  that  the 
American  people  in  vast  majority  are  in  favor  of  this 
complete,  unqualified  cooperation  in  world  affairs.  I 
am  convinced  that  if  that  question  were  submitted  to 
a  referendum  by  the  whole  people,  the  result  would  be 
two  to  one  in  favor  of  it.  A  few  professional  politicians 
who  live  by  office  rather  than  by  principles  still  think 
the  vote  of  November,  1920,  indicated  something  of  the 
other  view.  One  very  prominent  man  attempted  to  es¬ 
tablish  the  isolation  theory  as  an  American  idea  based 
upon  that  result.  As  one  who  voted  with  that  majority, 
I  protest  against  that  analysis.  As  one  knowing  rather 
intimately  the  sentiment  of  170,000  Christian  churches 
with  27,000,000  communicants,  I  protest  against  that 
being  presented  as  the  doctrine  to  which  they  subscribe. 
There  were  a  dozen  other  questions  involved  in  Novem¬ 
ber,  1920,  the  chief  of  them  being  the  Eighteenth 
Amendment. 

I  am  remembering  this  now,  only  because  it  relates 
to  the  method  by  which  America  can  find  liberty  to 
cooperate  in  a  truly  Christian  way.  It  is  obvious  that 
this  full,  free  participation  of  the  United  States,  in  good 
service  in  all  the  tasks  of  a  distracted  world,  will  never 
be  secured  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  Republican  party. 
It  is  equally  obvious  it  will  never  be  secured  by  a  unani¬ 
mous  vote  of  the  Democratic  party.  There  have  been 
frequent  times  since  1918  when  such  unanimity  in  either 
party  would  have  carried  the  principle  to  victory,  in¬ 
cluding  participation  in  the  League  of  Nations  with 
reasonable  reservations.  There  is  a  small  minority  in 


AMERICA 


195 


each  party  ready  to  bicker,  trade,  vote  any  way  or  not 
at  all,  to  defeat  this  noblest  desire  of  a  free  people. 
There  was  an  hour  when  United  States  Senator  Lodge, 
if  he  had  had  no  solicitude  for  party  machinery,  could 
have  written  his  name  in  a  different  realm  than  it  is 
eventually  to  be  in,  by  reason  of  his  failure  to  carry 
the  League  of  Nations  ratification.  There  was  an  hour 
when  President  Wilson  could  have  said  the  word  and 
advised  his  party  to  accept  the  perfectly  innocent  res¬ 
ervations,  and  the  United  States  would  have  been  in  the 
League  of  Nations.  In  that  first  hour  Senator  Lodge 
could  have  led  enough  Republicans  to  vote  with  the 
Democrats  to  have  carried  the  Senate.  But  it  was  a 
Democratic  measure  and  would  have  been  a  Democratic 
asset,  and  therefore  could  not  be.  In  the  second  hour 
President  Wilson  only  needed  to  say  “Yes”  if  he  loved 
the  ideal  so  purely  as  he  professed.  But  it  was  a  Re¬ 
publican  measure  and  would  have  been  a  Republican  as¬ 
set,  and  therefore  could  not  be. 

The  Christian  people  of  the  United  States  are  prac¬ 
tically  unanimous  in  this  hope  of  cooperation,  believing 
it  to  be  the  only  real  Christian  attitude  to  take.  But 
they  may  as  well  know  that  prayers  and  petitions  and 
frenzied  zeal  will  not  suffice  till  this  ridiculous  political 
contradiction  is  blasted  wide  open.  America’s  heart  is 
not  selfish,  her  desire  is  not  for  “America  first  and  to 
hell  with  the  rest  of  the  world,”  her  hope  and  wish  is  to 
help  in  every  way  she  can.  The  Christian  churches  are 
literally  aflame  with  this  expectation  of  peace,  based 
upon  international  good  will  and  service.  What 
America  must  realize  is  that  this  is  a  new  political 
cleavage,  possibly  worked  out  in  changing  the  old 
parties  to  fit  the  new  hour,  possibly  by  a  new  one  Cer- 


196  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

tainly  as  the  old  ones  stand  to-day,  they  are  both  de¬ 
void  of  any  great  burning  moral  issues  to  inspire  sacri¬ 
fice  or  call  out  the  nobler  qualities  of  a  nation’s  life. 
They  each  hold  on  their  books  men  who  never  ought 
to  belong  to  anything  in  common.  William  Jennings 
Bryan  I  think  is  still  a  Democrat.  When  I  left  home,  so 
was  Charles  Murphy  of  New  York  City.  Strange  com¬ 
bination  that.  It  is  not  easy  to  know  why  Warren  G. 
Harding  and  Charles  E.  Hughes  should  belong  to  the 
same  political  regime  as  Hiram  Johnson  and  William 
E.  Borah.  All  of  these  are  as  different  as  men  who 
might  have  lived  in  centuries  two  thousand  years  apart 
and  in  distances  as  remote  as  Mars  and  the  Island  of 
Yap. 

I  believe  in  churches  and  Bibles  and  preachers,  and 
prayers  and  colleges  and  universities,  but,  function  as 
they  may,  if  America  is  to  fulfill  her  hour,  is  to  en- 
hearten  the  world,  is  to  share  with  the  peacemakers,  she 
must  find  some  way  to  mobilize  all  the  good  people  who 
love  universal  concord  and  have  sense  enough  to  under¬ 
stand  that  its  future  weal  is  in  mutual  affiliations,  social, 
moral,  spiritual,  economic,  and  political. 

America  is  a  peace-loving  nation.  She  has  no  ac¬ 
count  in  her  ledger  for  “indemnities.”  She  returns 
them  for  educational  purposes  if  they  are  received. 
She  does  not  want  an  inch  of  any  new  territory.  She 
is  not  harboring  any  passion  of  hate  or  jealousy  against 
anybody.  She  is  in  command  of  her  faculties,  not 
having  suffered  terribly  as  others  did.  She  is  strong, 
healthy,  prosperous,  and  ought  to  be  the  last  to  wrap 
the  cloak  of  her  security  about  her  and  refuse  to  exhaust 
every  talent  and  capacity  of  her  life  to  bind  up  the  open 
wounds  of  earth’s  struggling,  war-cursed,  less  favored 


AMERICA 


197 


sister  nations  and  to  help  usher  in  the  day  when  God 
will  make  wars  to  cease.  If  a  cablegram  could  be  sent 
to  every  capital  city  of  the  world,  announcing  that 
America  had  decided  to  accept  fully  her  world  responsi¬ 
bility  and  to  participate  in  every  function  of  world  af¬ 
fairs,  the  morale  of  the  distressed  nations  would  be 
lifted  fifty  per  cent,  the  depleted  and  depressed  money 
markets  would  jump  up  fifty  per  cent  and  the  peril  of 
war  would  be  removed  almost  completely. 


CHAPTER  XV 


THE  CPIRISTIAN  CHURCH 

Is  It  a  Help  or  a  Menace  to  World  Peace? 

“If  one  of  my  trade  union  friends  in  America  should  gather  all 
the  organized  labor  men  together  some  Sunday  morning  and  see 
that  they  all  went  to  church,  they  would  fill  every  church  to 
overflowing.  They  would  also  create  a  sensation.  Now  the* 
organized  labor  men  would  do  just  that  thing  if  they  could 
have  seen  what  I  have  seen  in  the  Orient. 

“Whatever  we  have  in  the  West — and  we  have  considerable — 
we  owe  to  Christianity.” — Victor  Murdock,  “China,  Mysterious 
and  Marvelous.” 

“We  need  if  not  a  new  religion,  a  new  impetus  towards  the 
unseen,  towards  the  realm  where  moth  and  rust  do  not  corrupt 
and  where  are  garnered  the  riches  which  no  grasping  govern¬ 
ments  can  tax  and  no  fluctuations  of  exchange  can  diminish. 
Who  shall  guide  us  into  that  country?  Those  who  have 
already  looked  across  at  its  shining  distances.  .  .  . 

“The  central  difficulty  of  the  economic  situation  in  Europe 
is  the  problem  of  reparation.  That  problem  is,  at  bottom,  not 
an  economic  problem;  it  is  not  even  a  political  problem;  it  is  a 
vtoral  problem.  .  .  . 

“So  long  as  the  moral  atmosphere  remains  as  it  is,  coopera¬ 
tion  between  France  and  Germany  must  remain  on  a  purely 
material  plane,  capable  indeed  of  involving  Britain  in  a  damag¬ 
ing  isolation  and  even  of  forming  the  nucleus  of  an  anti-British 
or  anti-Anglo-Saxon  bloc  of  continental  peoples,  but  not  of  re¬ 
awakening  the  old  lost  sense  of  the  moral  unity  of  Europe.” — 
Alfred  E.  Zimmern,  “Europe  in  Convalescence.” 

THE  most  difficult  of  all  the  attempts  to  appraise 
the  impressions  of  a  world  tour  upon  a  peace 
message  is  that  one  reached  when  the  issues  of 
the  Christian  Church  are  involved.  Remembering  the 

198 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


199 


wide  range  of  views  given  by  the  witnesses  who  so 
largely  make  up  the  facts  which  have  been  recorded 
upon  many  topics  and  at  many  places,  and  that  ofttimes 
they  have  seemed  to  be  at  complete  disagreement  upon 
vital  questions,  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion,  however, 
that  upon  no  other  theme  are  the  extremes  so  wide  apart 
as  upon  the  question  of  the  Christian  Church,  its  past 
influence,  its  present  hope,  and  its  future  possibilities. 
Amid  these  conflicting  views  there  has  sometimes  risen 
a  temptation  to  omit  any  effort  to  formulate  another 
statement,  but  rather  to  leave  those  who  read  to  draw 
their  own  inferences  so  far  as  the  Church  is  involved. 
It  would  be  the  easiest  way  past  a  difficult  situation. 

This  impulse,  however,  cannbt  be  followed  because 
the  auspices  under  which  all  the  facts  have  been  at¬ 
tained  have  in  every  place  been  the  Christian  churches 
and  their  affiliated  societies,  related  to  the  world  alli¬ 
ances  of  churches.  Neither  could  it  be  followed,  be¬ 
cause  it  would  be  in  neglect  of  the  most  pronounced 
personal  conviction  which  abides  out  of  all  the  confu¬ 
sions.  Likewise  it  could  not  be  adhered  to,  for  if  the 
Christian  Church  is  as  indispensable  as  many  believe 
it  to  be,  then  that  fact  ought  to  be  verified,  so  that  all 
energies  might  be  more  wisely  directed  towards  those 
methods  which  have  real  potency. 

Two  conclusions  are  vital  at  the  beginning.  The 
Christian  Church  spoken  of  and  finally  held  in  highest 
permanent  esteem  is  not  just  what  the  super-ecclesiastics 
call  “Church”  and  around  which  they  attempt  to  build 
a  high,  holy,  limited  sacredness.  If  I  were  compelled 
now  to  accept  as  a  Christian  church  every  building 
which  I  have  seen  with  that  sign  on  the  gate,  or  with  a 
cross  over  the  spire,  I  would  abandon  the  hope  which  I 


200  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


expect  to  record.  Many  of  these  have  seemed  more 
like  ecclesiastical  garages,  with  a  few  high-salaried  re¬ 
ligious  chauffeurs  in  charge.  Something  grander  than 
these  is  the  Church  here  referred  to.  It  is,  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  an  inclusive  term,  centering  in  the  primary 
Church  but  also  taking  into  full  account  its  specialized 
branches,  such  as  the  temperance  societies,  the  Sunday 
schools,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Association,  the  young 
people’s  organizations,  and  others  which  bear  vital  fel- 
lc  .ship  to  the  Church  as  the  Mother  of  all.  I  think  of 
the  Christian  Church  as  something  infinitely  grander, 
broader,  and  bigger  than  the  organized  institution 
which  has  grown  up  by  that  name  and  is  so  largely 
dominated  by  human  limitations,  by  man-made  stand¬ 
ards  of  membership  and  functions. 

There  is  also  a  certain  elimination  which  is  de¬ 
manded,  or  all  that  follows  will  break  down  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  thinking  men.  The  Church  here  believed  in  is 
not  the  type  proclaimed  by  a  certain  sect  of  orthodox 
agitators  found  in  every  land  at  every  port  at  every 
occasion.  They  are  usually  self-styled  preservers  of  the 
faith,  guardians  of  the  holy  of  holies,  the  inside  friends 
of  God,  the  champions  of  their  own  pet  ideas  of  the  fun¬ 
damentals,  the  supreme  judges  of  “who’s-who”  in  the 
Kingdom.  I  would  join  the  league  of  church  pessimists 
if  I  felt  they  represented  the  Church  of  the  future.  They 
thrive  on  controversy,  they  are  happy  only  when  ma¬ 
ligning  the  characters  of  those  who  do  not  accept  in 
every  detail  their  pet  dogmas,  they  relish  calamity  as 
a  sweet  morsel,  and  contemplate  heaven  as  a  place  where 
the  select,  whom  they  have  approved,  shall  sit  in  bliss 
watching  all  others  burn  in  hell.  This  type  naturally 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


201 


cannot  be  concerned  about  peace  and  good  will  on  earth, 
for  their  philosophy  is  based  upon  the  opposite  culmina¬ 
tion.  Without  further  comment  so  far  as  this  article 
is  concerned,  no  account  of  that  cult  is  taken. 

With  this  much  cleared  away,  return  can  be  made 
to  the  place  the  Christian  Church  has  in  this  vital 
task  of  bringing  order  out  of  world  chaos. 

The  two  voices  referred  to  which  seem  so  far  apart 
must  both  be  listened  to,  if  a  just  conclusion  is  to  be 
reached.  One  is  saying  in  terms  of  unqualified  confi¬ 
dence  that  the  Church  has  failed  absolutely  and  is  no 
longer  to  be  counted  upon  as  a  potent  factor  in  influ¬ 
encing  questions  which  reach  beyond  those  of  personal 
morality.  This  one  calls  attention  to  the  hopeless  divi¬ 
sions  in  the  Church,  and  points  to  important  parts  of 
the  world  where  the  sects  are  still  fighting  each  other 
and  to  others  where  the  Church  once  flourished  and  is 
now  dead  and  its  place  taken  by  alien  forms  of  religion. 
Attention  is  likewise  directed  to  the  fact  that  the 
Church  as  now  organized  is  unable  to  meet  great  human 
needs  in  the  world  in  time  of  panic,  famine,  or  war,  and 
that  immense  independent  relief  and  welfare  societies 
have  been  organized  to  fulfill  these  missions,  which 
ought  to  have  been  the  first  concern  of  the  Church.  The 
attitude  of  much  of  the  Church  upon  the  social  and  in¬ 
dustrial  questions  of  the  past  twenty-five  years  is  being 
called  to  mind  as  an  evidence  that  the  Church  is  tra¬ 
ditionally  ultra-conservative  and  is  rather  inclined  to 
follow  instead  of  lead  in  great  social  reforms. 

No  small  notice  is  directed  to  the  trend  of  schools, 
colleges,  and  universities  of  all  kinds  towards  freeing 
themselves  from  the  direct  administration  of  the 
Church.  The  statement  is  commonly  made  that  no  high 


202  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


grade  school  or  university  with  a  high  grade  faculty 
can  live  if  controlled  by  direct  ecclesiastical  agencies. 
Comparisons  are  being  made  of  this  significant  fact  as 
applied  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  in  the  past. 
Oxford,  Cambridge,  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  North¬ 
western,  and  a  long  list  of  other  universities  which  once 
were  under  exclusive  church  control  and  are  now  inde¬ 
pendent,  form  the  basis  for  this  criticism,  and  by  this 
reasoning  the  verdict  is  reached  that  the  Church  is 
passing  out  of  the  realm  of  leadership  in  the  educated 
world. 

Recently  I  heard  a  great  preacher,  a  highly  cultured 
man,  a  known  optimist  during  twenty  years  of  inti¬ 
mate  acquaintance,  say,  “The  Christian  Church  has 
reached  a  new  day  in  history.  She  is  now  entering  upon 
a  fight  to  a  finish;  it  is  a  struggle  for  life  as  against 
death.” 

Not  long  ago  I  chanced  to  be  speaking  to  seven  hun¬ 
dred  upperclassmen  of  a  university  and  had  presented 
to  them  what  I  believed  then  and  now  to  be  the  supreme 
opportunity  of  investing  life  in  the  Christian  ministry, 
when  at  the  close  I  was  met  by  a  Bishop  of  the  Church, 
one  of  those  men  bigger  than  any  one  church  who  said, 
“If  the  Church  is  to  be  led  by  progressive  men  in  the 
future  you  were  right  in  your  appeal,  but  if  reaction¬ 
aries  are  to  be  in  control,  then  the  Christian  ministry 
is  only  a  fit  place  for  second  class  men,  and  not  for  the 
kind  you  were  addressing.” 

These  are  only  mild  hints  of  the  negative  kind.  A 
more  violent  group  is  saying  the  Church  is  not  only 
inefficient ,  but  a  menace  to  the  good  of  the  world  and 
ought  to  be  put  clear  out  of  the  field.  Alfred  Zimmern, 
who  has  already  been  quoted,  says  that  the  Church 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


203 


instead  of  being  the  foremost  institution  in  the  peace 
of  the  world  has  in  reality  become  an  “obstacle.”  The 
author  of  “The  Mirrors  of  Downing  Street”  in  his 
most  recent  book,  “Painted  Windows”  draws  the  same 
lesson  in  the  concluding  chapter  and  not  only  ignores 
the  Church  as  having  any  value,  but  indicts  it  as  a  posi¬ 
tive  hindrance.  The  writer  has  been  familiar  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  with  all  forms  of  attacks  upon  the 
Christian  institutions,  but  has  not  in  as  many  years 
heard  any  so  severe  as  during  1921  and  1922. 

These  criticisms  are  pathetic,  they  are  sad,  it  is  a 
calamity  that  any  ground  should  have  been  given  for 
them.  But  sadder  yet  is  the  complacent  manner  in 
which  some  church  leaders  arlswer  them  with  a  cynical 
smile  and  the  same  old  shelf-worn  excuses  and  ex¬ 
travagant  claims.  One  with  whom  I  talked  personally 
upon  this  phase  of  the  world  situation,  calmly  said, 
‘Well,  that  does  not  apply  to  my  church,  for  we  in¬ 
creased  our  membership  eight  per  cent  in  two  years 
and  closed  the  period  with  all  bills  paid.”  Such  an¬ 
swers  to  solemn  problems  of  church  life  or  death  lead 
one  to  be  inclined  to  accept  .the  Zimmern  theory.  These 
criticisms  are  serious ;  they  are  not  without  some  basis ; 
they  must  be  met  upon  a  platform  of  respect  for  those 
who  utter  them. 

Just  as  striking,  however,  are  the  comments  being 
made  by  the  other  type,  who  are  saying  that  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  is  the  hope  and  the  only  hope  of  humanity 
and  the  world,  in  its  travail  for  peace  and  harmony. 
Some  are  saying,  “Every  other  institution  and  program 
has  failed  and  the  Church  has  never  been  really  tried 
on  a  big  scale;  let  the  Church  be  given  an  honest 
chance.”  Others  are  calling  attention  to  the  thought 


204  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

that,  sad  as  the  world  conditions  are  and  terrible  as  the 
Great  War  was,  both  might  have  been  indescribably 
sadder  but  for  the  influence  which  the  Christian  Church 
and  its  organizations  have  exercised. 

I  have  heard  men  pointing  to  the  Church  as  the  se¬ 
curity  of  a  better  life  among  the  nations,  who  do  not 
go  to  church  or  belong  to  any  religious  society.  I  sat 
at  a  luncheon  where  an  orthodox  Hebrew,  a  rich  mer¬ 
chant  and  philanthropist,  pleaded  with  a  hundred  church 
leaders  to  take  the  initiative  in  a  world  crusade  for 
brotherhood,  and  during  his  remarks  he  said,  “This  is 
the  only  organization  I  know  which  has  any  basis  of 
genuine  hope  in  preserving  us  from  another  war.”  I 
heard  a  politician,  a  Prime  Minister,  a  labor  leader, 
who  said  he  had  not  been  in  a  church  in  twenty  years 
say:  “We  have  tried  the  politicians;  they  can’t  keep 
us  from  war.  We  have  tried  the  newspapers;  they 
have  failed.  Let  us  now  try  the  Christian  Church; 
perhaps  they  can  teach  us  a  better  way.” 

With  due  consideration  for  all  and  not  the  full  con¬ 
fidence  one  might  wish  to  possess,  and  with  the  facts 
available  by  limited  visits  to  many  different  nations, 
the  writer  accepts  the  latter  view  as  the  correct  one, 
and  the  one  which  above  all  the  handicaps  ought  to  be 
stressed  to  the  remotest  corner  of  earth  with  every 
speed  compatible  with  efficiency.  This  conclusion  is 
buttressed  by  a  few  indisputable  evidences. 

In  the  first  place,  the  great  peace  emotion  or  impulse 
which  is  so  manifest  in  the  world  needs  an  organization, 
a  deposit,  equal  to  the  depths  of  its  desires.  The  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  confesses  that  its  organic  life  is  not  perfect, 
but  it  also  claims  it  is  the  best  thing  the  world  has  upon 
a  scale  wide  enough  to  hope  for  success. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


205 


All  the  data  is  not  at  hand,  but  enough  is  available  to 
state  that  the  Church  has  at  least  1,125,000  special 
messengers  of  the  official  class,  not  to  mention  the  mil¬ 
lions  of  unclassified  of  the  laity,  who  are  united  in  the 
belief  that  peace  on  earth  is  the  mightiest  message  ever 
delivered  to  man.  With  ample  allowance  for  the  utter 
inability  and  unworthiness  of  many  of  these,  there  is 
found  here  a  vast  promoting  power  which,  when  once 
aroused  and  united,  can  carry  the  world  for  a  com¬ 
manding  moral  ideal.  A  percentage,  all  too  large,  may 
be  tied  hand,  foot,  and  mouth  to  obsolete  topics,  but 
the  greater  majority  of  these  are  free,  unbought,  and 
unafraid  souls  who  will  speak  what  they  believe  to  be 
God’s  truth.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  seems  to  be 
rather  popular  to  belittle  Christian  clergymen  and  spe¬ 
cial  religious  workers,  I  venture  the  suggestion  that  of 
no  other  profession  of  like  numbers  is  there  so  large  a 
percentage  who  are,  from  tip  to  toe,  consecrated  to 
the  vows  they  have  taken.  There  are  not  as  many  as 
the  needs  of  the  world  call  for,  and  none  of  them  claim 
perfection.  But  as  pleaders  they  are  the  world’s  best 
hope  of  peace.  I  have  visited  many  cities  in  many 
lands  of  varying  vicissitudes,  but  never  one  spot  where 
there  was  no  Christian  preacher,  missionary,  evangelist, 
or  teacher.  They  are  everywhere.  No  political  or  edu¬ 
cational  system  can  claim  this  wide  expanse  for  its 
organization.  Poor,  lame,  halting  as  it  may  be,  the 
Christian  Church  comes  to  this  hour  with  an  organiza¬ 
tion  which  is  world  extensive  and  getting  stronger 
every  hour.  The  peace  movement  in  behalf  of  all 
humanity  needs  this  machinery. 

In  the  second  place,  the  true  doctrine  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  is  perfect.  If  all  the  horrible  interpretations 


2o6  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


are  listened  to,  and  all  the  weird  theological  incanta¬ 
tions  which  have  been  dragged  in  must  be  given  place, 
and  a  full  catalogue  be  made  of  all  the  parasitical  sub¬ 
jects  which  crazy  people  have  attached  to  Christianity, 
all  combined  they  do  not  mar  the  beauty  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus,  given  in  the  unequaled  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  with  its  Beatitudes  and  central  theme, 
“Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called 
the  children  of  God.”  Men  are  fallible,  weak,  and 
bigoted,  but  this  doctrine  was  perfect  two  thousand 
years  ago  and  is  perfect  now.  I  found  in  mingling  with 
many  forms  of  religion  much  of  beautiful  poetry  and 
much  of  high  sentiment  about  eternity  and  immortality, 
but  I  found  no  other  proposing  to  heal  the  wounds  of 
this  world’s  hurt  and  to  have  a  Kingdom  of  life  and 
brotherhood  on  earth. 

The  world  is  in  need  of  some  message  which  can  in¬ 
terpret  life  upon  a  plane  higher  than  cold  materialism. 
The  pit  in  which  the  European  nations  find  themselves 
now,  which  is  deeper  and  darker  than  in  1918,  has  been 
dug  by  an  incessant  irritation  of  economics  and  geog¬ 
raphy  and  the  bottom  has  not  been  reached,  and  will 
not  be  till  some  new  moral,  spiritual,  altruistic  wave 
moves  their  dominant  life.  The  Christian  Church  has 
this  doctrine,  it  knows  this  language,  it  is  the  only  plat¬ 
form  from  which  may  go  out  a  new*  higher  call  which 
may  leaven  humanity  with  the  hope  of  brotherhood. 

In  the  third  place  it  is  to  be  observed  that  somehow, 
someway,  the  Christian  Church  produces  an  atmo¬ 
sphere,  an  attitude,  a  great  hope. 

I  have  been  led  to  say  a  few  times  that  if  put  in  a 
room  blindfolded  and  permitted  to  talk  with  men  in 
periods  of  five  minutes  each,  I  could  give  an  accurate 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


2°7 


statement  of  the  controlling  belief  of  each,  without  pro¬ 
pounding  one  direct  religious  or  theological  question. 
All  that  is  necessary  is  to  provoke  discussion  of  the 
problems  of  war,  its  past  effect  and  the  probability  of 
more.  To  the  man  a  stranger  to  the  Christian  theory, 
“war  always  has  been  and  always  will  be.”  To  him  it 
is  silly  and  sentimental  to  talk  of  a  time  when  armed 
conflict  will  have  ceased.  He  says,  “We  are  in  a  fight 
all  the  way,  the  world  is  built  on  the  idea  of  the  sur¬ 
vival  of  the  biggest.”  Cold,  calculating,  metallic,  ma¬ 
terialistic,  fatalistic  is  his  vocabulary. 

In  the  man  who  has  really  been  brought  into  the  zone 
where  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  working,  there  is  a 
brotherhood  desire,  a  searching  after  concord,  a  love 
of  comradeship,  a  conviction  that  God  did  not  mean 
wars  to  be,  and  that  He  will  eventually  make  them  to 
cease.  The  world  is  under  the  spell  of  an  awful  pes¬ 
simism  ;  the  printing  presses  seem  to  be  running  night 
and  day  turning  out  the  somber  prophesies  of  the  utter 
collapse  of  civilization.  The  street  and  market  places 
are  filled  with  the  recitations  of  hate  growing  keener, 
and  war  and  desolation  of  a  worse  kind  yet  dawning 
nearer.  The  Christian  platform  still  speaks  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  of  the  higher  hope  of  the  day  when 
everywhere  men  will  be  bearing  one  another’s  burdens 
as  the  joyful  law  of  Christ.  The  Christian  Church  is 
worth  all  it  costs  and  all  its  energies,  even  with  its  de¬ 
fects  charged  at  full  value,  as  the  center  where  the 
language  of  universal  brotherhood,  peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men  is  still  spoken  and  the  doctrine  still  believed. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  Christian  Church  is  still  the 
mightiest  disseminator  of  a  truth  which  carries  with  it 
moral  sanction  enough  to  restrain  the  violent  passions 


208  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


of  men  as  individuals  as  well  as  in  groups.  One  is  at 
every  point  reminded  that,  following  the  Great  War, 
there  has  come  an  almost  insane  desire  for  license  to  do 
anything,  anywhere,  regardless  of  the  effect  upon  per¬ 
sonal  life  or  society.  Sometimes,  this  spirit  has  been 
miscalled  “liberty.’'  What  the  Bolshevists  claimed  in 
the  economic  order  in  Russia  has  passed  rapidly  to  the 
moral  realm.  A  large  part  of  the  depression  in  the 
world’s  business  life  is  occasioned  by  the  lawlessness 
which  leads  men  to  be  afraid.  They  do  not  trust  in¬ 
dividuals,  they  dare  not  trust  nations.  The  world  is 
passing  through  a  period  of  well  nigh  unbridled  lib¬ 
erties,  so  called,  which  are  undermining  confidence. 
Some  platform,  some  doctrine,  some  faith  must  be 
found  strong  enough  to  enter  the  arena  and  control 
morals.  The  grandest  thing  about  Christianity  is  not 
its  story  of  the  birth,  life,  and  death  of  its  Founder, 
beautiful  as  they  are  to  those  of  that  faith.  But  rather 
is  its  supreme  glory  discovered  in  its  moral  program, 
which  proposes  to  graft  into  life  not  only  pretty  ideas 
but  a  divine  moral  energy,  a  sanction,  a  command, 
which  will  restrain  the  lawless  passions  which  cry  for 
indulgence.  The  Christian  Church  still  dares  preach 
the  Ten  Commandments  as  being  just  as  binding  at 
Moscow,  Berlin,  Constantinople,  Paris,  London,  and 
Washington  as  at  Mount  Sinai. 

In  recognition  of  the  first  set  of  criticisms  and  in 
realization  of  the  fact  that  their  existence  is  a  calamity, 
even  if  they  are  exaggerated,  and  in  the  more  serious 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  if  the  second  group  are  at 
all  correct  these  obstacles  ought  to  be  removed  to  the 
last  degree  possible,  attention  is  again  directed  to  them. 
One  thing  is  sure  in  accepting  either  view  or  both, 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


209 


this  is  a  momentous  hour  for  the  organized  system  of 
Christianity.  The  Church  as  it  is  may  live  on  a  long, 
long  time  but  be  of  small  value  to  the  big  needy  world. 
But  if  it  can  enter  the  field  of  influence  now  opened  to 
it  and  live  up  to  the  high  hopes  being  entertained  for  it 
by  tens  of  thousands  in  every  part  of  the  universe,  then 
it  is  entering  upon  an  era  of  unprecedented  power. 
Some  issues  are  to  be  dealt  with  promptly  if  this  latter 
dream  is  to  come  true. 

Of  these  the  one  which  seems  most  essential  is  that 
the  Christian  Church  free  itself  of  its  war  heritage,  its 
war  record,  its  war  affiliations,  and  take  bold  leadership 
of  the  world-extended  hunger  for  the  final  judgment 
upon  military  force  as  a  method  of  adjusting  interna¬ 
tional  differences  and  misunderstandings.  This  state¬ 
ment  is  made  in  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  many 
complacent  church  officials  will  contend  that  that  has 
been  the  attitude  of  the  Church  all  along.  Granting 
full  credit  to  that  host  of  men  and  women  in  the  Church 
who  always  held  that  personal  feeling,  and  to  some 
small  communions  which  not  only  believed  but  prac¬ 
ticed  it,  yet  taken  as  a  whole  the  Christian  churches  of 
the  world  have  not  been  upon  that  basis  and  many  of 
them  have  been  the  most  ardent  advocates  and  pro¬ 
moters  of  wars.  The  Near  and  Far  East  are  literally 
hurling  with  scorn  into  the  faces  of  the  missionaries 
this  record  of  the  wars  of  the  West  and  Christian  rela¬ 
tions  to  them. 

A  noble  native  minister,  immediately  after  my  second 
public  address  in  India,  took  me  aside  and  said,  “You 
must  know  that  the  educated  people  of  this  country 
look  upon  Christianity  as  a  warring,  blood-spilling  re¬ 
ligion.”  Another,  translating  a  part  of  an  article  in  a 


2io  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


prominent  paper  in  which  the  editor  associated  Mo¬ 
hammedanism  and  Christianity  as  being  kindred  faiths, 
gave  the  Moslems  the  advantage  of  sincerity  in  that 
they  freely  advocated  the  sword,  while  the  Christians 
talked  and  professed  peace,  but  were  waging  the  worst 
wars  in  all  history. 

Before  leaving  New  York  I  received  a  splendid  letter 
from  a  great  Indian  Christian,  extending  an  assurance 
of  welcome  to  his  country,  but  giving  this  strange  coun¬ 
sel  :  “I  would  strongly  advise  you  not  to  use  the  word 
‘Christianity’  in  speaking  in  India.  It  is  here  regarded 
as  the  name  of  a  Western  religion  which  has  failed. 
You  can  preach  Christ  here,  but  you  cannot  preach 
Christianity.”  Similar  illustrations  could  be  multi¬ 
plied  from  China  and  Japan,  although  the  comment 
would  be  a  little  less  severe  in  the  case  of  the  latter. 
Hindus,  Mohammedans,  and  Buddhists  are  filling  the 
Far  East  with  descriptions  of  Western  Christianity  as 
a  war-loving  and  war-promoting  organization. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  purity  of  their  motives, 
it  is  quite  certain  they  are  not  entirely  bereft  of  argu¬ 
ments  to  substantiate  their  attack.  The  record  of  the 
Christian  churches  from  1914  to  1918  is  not  very  much 
in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  the  Founder  of  the 
faith.  Organized  Christianity  in  Russia,  Germany, 
France,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States  was  not 
only  silent  when  the  storm  broke,  but  soon  became  the 
trusted  track  to  promote  the  slaughter.  When  I  look 
back  upon  things  I  heard  in  Christian  pulpits  and  words 
personally  uttered  concerning  that  war,  much  of  it 
seems  a  hideous  nightmare.  I  quietly  strolled  through 
those  majestic  aisles  of  Westminster  Abbey,  when  en 
route  home,  but  must  confess  that  as  I  went  I  shud- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


21 1 


dered  at  what  the  impression  must  be  upon  any  non- 
Christian  who  should  visit  that  place.  Most  of  the 
greater  statues,  monuments,  and  tablets  are  to  the  mem¬ 
ory  of  furious  warriors.  In  nearly  every  church  in  my 
own  country,  as  well  as  in  others,  there  is  displayed 
some  honor  roll,  some  tablet  to  visualize  to  the  young 
the  glory  of  war. 

If  any  suggestion  was  intended  to  lessen  the  bravery 
of  any  of  these,  it  would  be  brutal  and  unpardonable. 
But  I  venture  if  the  dead  who  gave  precious  life  upon 
battle  fields  from  1914  to  1918  could  speak,  they  would 
ask  that  even  the  use  of  their  names  should  not  become 
a  part  of  a  process  to  deify  war  in  the  name  of  Christ 
in  His  Church.  The  Christian  Church  must  make 
wide  its  fixed  purpose  to  be  forever  free  from  war 
alliances  and  to  be  faithful  to  the  program  of  peace, 
even  though  most  of  the  clergymen  have  to  go  to  jail 
and  the  buildings  are  invaded  by  armies.  Either  this 
is  to  be  its  future,  or  the  Western  churches  may  as 
well  call  home  the  foreign  missionaries  and  close  the 
books.  A  great  Hindu,  a  member  of  the  Imperial  Leg¬ 
islature,  said  to  me,  “Ten  years  ago  it  looked  as  though 
Christ  was  to  become  the  dominating  personality  of 
India,  but  the  Great  War  has  settled  that  forever.” 
Then  turning  abruptly,  as  though  seized  by  a  feeling 
too  intense  to  be  controlled,  he  said,  “Why  in  God’s 
name  ought  Indians  to  accept  your  Western  religion? 
It  promotes  the  very  thing  we  hate  most.”  The  Chris¬ 
tian  Church  must  become  famous  as  the  center  of  love 
of  peace  and  equally  famous  for  its  abhorrence  of  war. 

Among  the  things  which  seem  to  demand  a  new 
consideration  there  may  also  be  noted  the  imperative 
cry  for  a  bigger,  better,  nobler  definition  of  Christ. 


212  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


To  read  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  then  to  go  to 
some  churches  and  listen  to  the  narrow  individualistic 
interpretations  of  it,  an  unsophisticated  person  would 
never  suspicion  they  were  related  to  the  same  philoso¬ 
phy.  They  are  ofttimes  as  far  apart  as  a  Masonic 
lodge  and  the  Sinn  Feiners. 

There  is  no  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  of 
impugning  anyone’s  sincerity,  but  sincerity  when  in 
awful  error  becomes  almost  a  crime.  Is  Christ  the 
Savior  of  only  a  handful  of  each  generation?  Does 
God  continue  to  bring  millions  of  innocents  into  the 
world  every  year  that  He  may  have  the  satisfaction  of 
sending  them  to  hell  later  ?  Is  the  Gospel  only  to  regu¬ 
late  individual  morals  and  let  all  collective  relationships 
be  run  by  the  Devil?  If  the  interpretations  of  Christ 
commonly  held  are  the  only  ones  and  no  more  prophets 
will  learn  bigger  things  and  teach  us  broader  ways,  all 
of  these  questions  must  be  answered,  “Yes.”  And  if 
they  are  so  answered  then  Christianity  is  not  a  world 
religion  and  never  will  be,  even  if  the  process  is  con¬ 
tinued  for  a  million  years. 

It  is  not  easy  to  explain  the  feelings  aroused  as  one 
comes  out  of  those  sections  of  the  world  where  the 
whole  Christian  movement  is  being  challenged  and  its 
very  life  mooted  because  the  critics  say  it  does  not  fit 
the  need  of  the  times,  and  then  to  find  much  of  the  home 
religious  press  filled  with  satisfying  reports  of  a  small 
numerical  increase  and  a  few  new  buildings  erected. 
Important  as  they  are  and  ever  must  be,  these  things 
are  insignificant  beyond  expression,  as  contrasted  with 
the  universal  problem  of  a  definition  of  the  Gospel 
adequate  to  the  truth  of  the  New  Testament  and  worthy 
of  the  crisis  of  the  world’s  humanity. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


213 


Perhaps  too  much  of  the  life  of  the  Church  in  this 
hour  is  being  directed  to  “activities.”  A  nervous,  rest¬ 
less,  worried  generation  is  apt  to  say,  “Let’s  do  some¬ 
thing,”  when  in  reality  probably  it  ought  rather  to  sit 
down  and  think.  Buildings,  hotels,  social  centers,  re¬ 
lief  stations,  clothes,  baths,  gymnasiums,  playgrounds, 
music,  entertainment,  and  preachers  will  not  carry 
Christianity,  of  the  kind  the  world  is  now  thinking 
about,  triumphantly  through  every  land.  We  need  a 
new  definition,  not  because  all  in  the  past  was  wrong, 
but  because  a  new  set  of  conditions  has  arisen  and 
because  we  must  have  one  that  is  so  much  like  the  things 
Jesus  said  that  the  distant  non-Christian  world  can  be 
met  without  the  messenger’s  spending  two-thirds  of  his 
time  in  apologizing.  It  would  be  a  great  thing  if  a 
hundred  men  like  the  Church’s  McConnells,  Cannons, 
Fosdicks,  Vances,  Jeffersons,  Merrills,  Speers,  Fran¬ 
cises,  Barbours,  Woelfkins,  Brents,  Knubels,  Ainslees, 
and  Melishes  could  go  apart  for  one  year,  away  from 
the  noise,  and  with  only  the  New  Testament  to  read, 
and  then  send  a  little  letter  about  Jesus  Christ — His 
teaching,  His  purpose,  His  love,  and  His  brotherhood 
• — to  all  the  churches.  It  would  mean  more  to  the  future 
of  the  world  than  for  some  billionaire  a  billion  times 
suddenly  to  pay  all  the  war  debts,  and  for  the  world 
to  keep  its  old  philosophy  and  the  Church  to  try  to  go 
forward  with  a  materialistic  fraud  of  Christianity. 

Another  necessity  pressing  itself  hourly  upon  the 
Christian  Church  is  the  discovery  of  some  method  by 
which  practical,  working  unity  may  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  new  functions  which  church  leaders  of  all 
forward-looking  types  are  now  accepting.  Without 
doubt  this  question  is  more  talked  about  among  those 


214  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

who  cherish  great  hopes  for  the  future  of  Christianity 
than  any  other  one  subject.  Likewise,  it  is  also  the 
most  prominent  item  discussed  by  the  severest  critics 
of  the  Church.  They  point  to  the  fact  that  the  really 
great  tasks  of  the  future  are  social,  civic,  national,  and 
international,  and  that  these  do  not  lend  themselves 
to  the  functions  of  a  divided  Church.  That  the  smallest 
unit  which  can  be  dealt  with  successfully  in  the  new 
order  is  the  community,  is  being  accepted  by  all  who 
believe  in  the  welfare  of  humanity  and  think  in  terms 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  While  these  facts 
are  forcing  their  way,  the  critics  say  that  instead  of 
unity  the  after-war  period  brought  a  revival  of  sectari¬ 
anism.  Certainly  there  is  some  ground  for  this  state¬ 
ment  by  the  student  of  church  affairs  in  the  United 
States  and  the  British  Isles.  Instead  of  a  common 
coming  together  worthy  of  the  time,  there  seems  to  be 
a  nervous  denominational  “Hurrah”  going  on,  the  only 
excuse  being  a  suggestion  of  expediency  in  the  interest 
of  a  larger  unity  later.  It  is  not  strange,  then,  to  find 
a  great  doubt  about  the  Church  for  the  coming  years, 
when  the  utterly  inexcusable  and  ridiculous  divisions 
and  subdivisions  are  considered.  Those  vast  divisions 
are  sad  enough,  which  are  illustrated  by  Greek  Catholic, 
Greek  Orthodox,  Armenian,  Roman  Catholic,  and 
Protestant.  But  add  to  this  the  cross  sections  of  some 
of  these  and  particularly  those  of  the  Protestant  group 
itself,  and  then  notice  that  unity  is  not  yet  possible  even 
in  the  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  and  Baptist 
denominations,  and  finally  crown  all  this  folly  by  such 
a  demonstration  of  acute  narrowness  and  bigotry  and 
conceit  as  that  given  by  the  self-styled  “fundamental¬ 
ists”  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention  at  Indianapo- 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


215 


lis  in  June,  1922,  and  the  stranger  thing  is  that  so  many- 
noble  people  still  do  believe  in  the  Church  and  hope  on. 

But  a  practical,  working  plan  must  be  found  by  which 
greater  solidarity  can  be  realized  or  there  is  no  hope 
for  true  greatness,  and  there  is  a  certainty  that  an 
increasing  number  of  men  and ’women  who  think  and 
will  insist  upon  continuing  to  do  so,  and  an  ever  larger 
company  who  are  moved  with  desire  to  serve  needy 
folks  in  human  ways,  will  leave  the  Church  and  seek 
other  channels  for  their  endeavors.  I  found  no  place 
in  travel  which  was  so  remote  that  this  subject  was  not 
in  the  forefront  of  all  conferences.  It  is  gratifying  to 
record  not  only  that  there  is  an  intense  sentiment,  but 
that  also  earnest  constructive  effort  is  being  made  to 
meet  this  responsibility.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
make  a  complete  list  of  all  the  unity,  cooperative  and 
federated  committees,  societies,  and  organizations 
found  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  The  sense  of  the 
importance  of  united  effort  is  bringing  forth  a  host 
of  men  and  women  determined  that  progress  shall  be 
made.  In  this  connection  “The  World  Alliance  of 
Churches  for  International  Friendship”  is  probably  the 
most  conspicuous  illustration  of  this  ideal  upon  a  large 
scale.  Twenty-two  nations  are  already  organized  with 
their  own  Councils,  of  which  many  different  kinds  of 
Christians  are  members,  and  all  are  working  heartily, 
harmoniously  together  to  preserve  the  nations  in  peace 
and  brotherhood. 

This  organization  will  soon  make  possible  bringing 
to  bear  the  solid  influence  of  at  least  one-half  the  num¬ 
erical  strength  of  Christianity  upon  the  peace  subject. 
Nearly  every  nation  visited  has  some  kind  of  national 
church  organization  representing  varied  forms  of 


216  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


Christian  faith.  The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  America  is  perhaps  the  best  illustration, 
with  its  thirty-one  different  denominations  united  in 
common  purpose  to  perform  those  national  duties  for 
which  the  Church  is  accountable.  In  nearly  every 
larger  city  of  the  United  States  there  is  a  local  Council 
which  binds  the  Church  together  for  the  good  of  the 
entire  community.  The  divisions  are  sad,  the  organism 
is  far  from  perfect,  but  it  is  not  hopeless  as  some  would 
seem  to  feel.  There  is  a  world-wide  impulse  toward 
unity  in  cooperation  for  the  common  good  without  re¬ 
spect  to  creed  or  dogmas.  The  great  federated  idea 
which  is  effecting  so  much  in  the  world  is  not  lacking 
in  the  Christian  Church,  and  better  days  are  coming. 

The  world  is  longing  for  peace,  it  is  weary  of  war. 
Men  are  saying  that  a  new  kind  of  human  purpose  and 
plan  has  to  be  injected  if  world  brotherhood  is  ever  to 
be  anything  more  than  a  dream.  Alfred  Zimmern  says 
there  are  three  forces  which  can  produce  the  result — 
“the  press,  the  university,  and  the  church.”  I  believe 
in  them  all,  but  I  know  that  without  the  Christian 
Church  such  an  order  will  never  be,  and  that  with  the 
right  kind  of  a  Church  such  an  order  is  possible.  It 
must  be  a  free  Church,  it  must  have  the  voice  of  the 
fearless  prophet  in  it.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  must 
be  applied.  It  must  be  fired  with  the  conviction  that 
war  and  Christianity  cannot  both  permanently  survive 
in  the  human  race. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  CLOUD  BEHIND  THE  CLOUDS 


The  Peril  of  Industrial  Revolution 


HERE  are  two  great  human,  moral  questions 


which  the  world  teachers  have  to  answer.  There 


is  no  escape,  they  cannot  be  evaded,  they  cannot 
be  suppressed.  All  the  struggle  of  humanity,  the  rest¬ 
lessness,  the  discontent,  are  but  the  distant  warnings 
that  these  two  questions  will  not  be  quieted  until  an 
adequate  satisfactory  solution  is  found  for  both  of 


them. 


There  may  be  avenues  by  which  brute  strength  may 
prevail  and  rule  for  a  while  in  either  of  these  realms, 
but  “good  wiir  and  “cooperation,”  without  which  the 
world  cannot  live  a  decent  life,  is  impossible  till  they 
have  both  been  met  fairly  and  the  human  race  convinced 
that  the  decision  is  righteous  and  just. 

First :  Can  we  get  rid  of  war? 

This  is  only  first,  however,  because  it  is  on  now.  It 
is  with  us.  The  human  race  has  just  been  drenched  in 
the  blood  of  this  horror.  It  is  still  burying  the  dead  as 
a  part  of  the  result.  It  is  still  living  by  the  open  graves 
of  its  slaughtered.  It  is  just  now  going  down  deep 
trying  to  pay  the  money  debt.  That  is  the  only  reason 
it  can  be  said  to  be  first.  All  that  is  written  in  this 
book,  and  all  that  goes  with  it,  is  only  one  more  simple, 


217 


218  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


modest  witness  to  this  thought  and  an  effort  to  con¬ 
tribute  a  little  to  its  solution.  But  that  is  not  all  of  the 
human  cry  of  the  world.  There  is  another  one,  fiercer 
than  the  first  and  involving  more  people,  and  equally 
persistent  in  its  demands. 

Second :  Can  we  solve  peacefully  the  social  and  in¬ 
dustrial  problem? 

The  author  might  omit  entirely  any  reference  to  this 
question,  for  he  was  not  commissioned  to  make  any  in¬ 
vestigation  upon  this  phase  of  life.  He  does  not  pro¬ 
fess  to  be  a  scientific  student  of  the  intricacies  of  this 
issue,  but  it  early  became  apparent  that  to  omit  it  was 
impossible  and  to  evade  it  would  seem  ridiculous.  It 
was  everywhere.  No  conference  could  be  held  at  any 
point  where  discussion  was  permitted  but  that  inside  of 
ten  minutes,  in  some  form  or  other,  under  the  general 
title  of  the  peace  topic,  the  local,  national,  and  inter¬ 
national  issues  related  to  the  social  and  industrial  prob¬ 
lem  would  be  introduced.  Thoughtful  people  were  not 
willing  to  discuss  the  evils  of  military  action  among 
nations  and  to  ignore  the  one  with  which  they  were 
involved  right  at  their  door  and  the  one  many  believed 
to  be  far  more  serious  than  international  adjustments. 

It  was  rather  a  striking  and  alarming  thing  to  go 
into  every  city  of  practically  every  nation  visited,  espe¬ 
cially  those  of  the  larger  and  major  populations,  and 
in  every  case  find  them  in  the  grip  of  some  terrific  labor 
strike.  San  Francisco  was  left  and  the  last  paper  read 
had  glowing  headlines  of  a  strike.  Japan  was  reached 
and  the  first  papers  received  had  headlines  covering  the 
story  of  four  great  strikes  called  the  day  before  in  as 
many  leading  cities.  In  China,  from  Peking  to  Hong¬ 
kong,  there  was  some  kind  of  a  strike  on  in  every  city 


THE  CLOUD  BEHIND  THE  CLOUDS  219 

visited.  No  boats  could  go  up  the  Pearl  River  to  Can¬ 
ton  because  upon  the  day  of  arrival  the  coolie  labor  on 
the  docks  had  gone  on  strike.  One  man  flippantly  told 
me  that  they  did  not  have  brains  enough  to  carry  on  a 
strike  for  twenty- four  hours,  and  that  there  would  be 
no  trouble  in  returning  to  Hongkong  by  boat  forty- 
eight  hours  later.  But  that  strike  was  carried  on  furi¬ 
ously  for  four  months  and  finally  to  success.  While 
we  were  in  the  north,  40,000  ’riksha  boys  went  on 
strike  in  Hankow  and  tied  up  the  whole  city  and  made 
the  business  interests  beg  for  mercy.  India  was  reached 
only  to  find  there,  in  addition  to  the  Gandhi  “Non-re¬ 
sistant  Movement”  (which  was  only  another  name  for 
strike)  that  every  kind  of  organization  from  one  end 
of  India  to  the  other  had  been  striking  for  something. 
Even  the  fifty  million  “untouchables”  had  gone  on  a 
strike  and  were  holding  a  convention  in  Delhi,  which 
thirty  thousand  delegates  attended,  to  protest  against 
further  abuses  of  the  low  castes.  Europe,  not  satisfied 
with  war  legacies,  is  full  of  strikes. 

Then  home  was  reached,  only  to  read  in  almost  the 
first  daily  paper  the  story  of  thirty-one  slaughtered  in 
Herrin,  Illinois,  in  the  most  brutal  riot  the  newspapers 
ever  recorded.  Therefore,  a  few  articles  upon  the  topic 
of  international  friendship,  peace,  and  good  will,  would 
be  totally  absurd  if  no  reference  were  made  to  this 
question. 

The  author  is  persuaded  that  if  some  method  could 
be  found  by  which  everybody  in  the  world  could  be  sat¬ 
isfied  concerning  geographical  boundaries,  and  that  if 
then  somebody  else  could  be  found  with  knowledge 
enough  to  answer  the  great  economic  problem  so  that 
all  the  reparations  could  be  paid,  all  indemnity  bills  met 


220  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


and  every  obligation  satisfactorily  canceled,  and  then 
another  discovery  could  be  made  of  a  way  by  which 
all  those  human  grievances,  those  harbored  bitternesses 
could  be  healed  and  everybody  made  satisfied  in  that 
realm — yet  with  all  this  accomplished,  which  seems  like 
an  impossible  dream,  still  another  cloud  is  to  be  seen 
on  the  horizon,  and  humanity  must  yet  find  its  path 
through  the  social  and  industrial  struggle.  Some  way 
must  be  found  by  which  a  man  who  has  a  good  deal  of 
money  can  live  in  a  friendly  way  with  a  man  who  has 
very  little  money.  The  writer  was  not  sent  out  upon 
this  subject  and  did  not  assemble  any  information  upon 
which  to  base  conclusions  and  does  not  wish  to  attempt 
to  any  extent  a  recital  of  the  facts,  but  he  must  record 
a  conviction  that  international  friendship,  good  will,  and 
brotherhood  will  not  come  to  this  world  until  this  ques¬ 
tion  also  has  been  honestly  met  and  some  remedy  found. 

No  word  of  appreciation  high  enough  can  be  com¬ 
manded  now,  to  express  fully  the  admiration  for  those 
on  both  sides  of  this  controversy  who  are  fair-minded 
enough,  fearless  enough,  Christ-like  enough,  to  face 
the  issues,  honestly  discuss  them,  and  somehow  in  the 
name  of  God  and  humanity  find  a  remedy.  Either  this 
must  be  done,  or  some  day  in  the  future  worse  havoc 
will  occur  than  that  which  has  taken  place  in  the  past 
as  an  outgrowth  of  international  grievances.  If  this 
industrial  outbreak  becomes  world-wide,  it  will  divide 
every  city,  every  state,  every  commonwealth,  and  every 
nation  on  a  new  line  of  cleavage.  Right  solutions, 
therefore,  of  the  various  social,  industrial,  class,  and 
caste  struggles  must  be  found,  or  the  peace  of  the 
world  is  not  guaranteed. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


CONCLUSIONS 


“It  is  a  great  thing  to  have  won  the  war,  but  to  have  won  it 
at  the  cost  of  more  wars  to  come,  and  with  the  domestic  prob¬ 
lems  intensified  and  multiplied  to  a  degree  of  gravest  danger, 
this  is  an  achievement  which  cannot  move  the  lasting  admira¬ 
tion  of  the  human  race.” — The  Author  of  “The  Mirrors  of 
Downing  Street.” 

OUT  of  the  confusions,  the  contradictions,  the 
threatenings,  the  hatreds  and  the  ruins,  none  of 
which  ought  to  be  lightly  thought  of  and  all  of 
which  present  a  world  situation  that  is  severe  enough  to 
form  a  reasonable  basis  for  every  pessimistic  word 
being  spoken  or  written,  a  few  convictions  are  definite 
enough  and  certain  enough  to  be  presented  in  positive 
form.  They  are  the  platform  upon  which  all  ardent 
peace  advocates  must  go  forward.  They  are  the 
essence  of  all  the  meetings,  conferences,  and  interviews 
of  earlier  reference.  With  no  attempt  at  details  and  no 
claim  for  originality  in  several  respects,  they  are  sub¬ 
mitted  as  having  qualities  of  great  importance  and 
forming  a  framework,  at  least,  for  constructive  pro¬ 
grams  for  every  kind  of  international  friendship  and 
peace  society. 


221 


222  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


CONCLUSION  NUMBER  ONE 

The  sentiment  of  the  world  is  overzvhelmingly  against 
war  and  in  favor  of  permanent  peace. 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  an  adequate  statement  of  this 
very  encouraging  fact,  one  which  is  decided  and  uni¬ 
versal  enough  to  give  real  hope  for  the  future.  I  was 
repeatedly  told,  as  the  long  tour  began,  that  I  must 
expect  severe  opposition  in  many  parts  of  the  world  as 
the  tidings  of  “militarism”  were  coming  in  alarming 
manner  from  many  of  the  nations.  Of  those  to  be 
visited  these  statements  were  most  pronounced  con¬ 
cerning  Japan.  I  got  repeated  warnings  of  this  situa¬ 
tion.  But  the  exact  opposite  was  the  fact  discovered 
and  so  evident,  to  which  attention  was  called  in  the 
previous  chapter  upon  Japan.  Inasmuch,  however,  as 
the  Japanese-American  issue  is  one  of  the  pivotal  prob¬ 
lems  of  the  world  peace  task,  I  wish  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  I  believe  the  attempts  being  made  by  certain 
political  and  commercial  cliques  to  portray  Japan  as  a 
war-mad  nation,  are  maliciously,  viciously,  and 
deliberately  false.  There  was  found  all  over  Japan 
a  deep  desire  for  peace  and  friendship  with  other 
nations. 

Then  going  on  through  China,  the  great  mystery  of 
the  nations,  the  sentiment  for  peace  and  not  war  grew 
with  every  day  as  the  campaign  continued,  notwith¬ 
standing  China’s  bitter  memories  of  wrongs.  Then  to 
India  and  to  Europe,  Greece,  Bulgaria,  Jugo-Slavia, 
Hungary,  Austria,  Czecho-Slovakia,  Switzerland, 
France,  and  the  British  Isles — in  every  one  of  these 


CONCLUSIONS 


223 


nations  there  was  accumulating  proof  that  the  com¬ 
mon  people,  the  real  folks,  were  sick,  tired,  and  utterly 
weary  of  the  military  outbreaks  and  that  a  consuming 
passion  for  unbroken  peace  was  taking  possession  of 
humanity.  Not  one  single  incident  occurred  to  call  this 
statement  in  question  in  eight  months’  travel  in  nine¬ 
teen  nations  representing  all  kinds  of  folks,  to  whom 
over  two  hundred  and  sixty  public  addresses  were  de¬ 
livered,  the  substance  of  which  in  every  case  was  a 
condemnation  of  war  as  a  method  and  a  prophecy  of  a 
warless  world  some  time. 

One  incident  is  recalled  in  a  city,  the  capital  of  a  peo¬ 
ple  defeated  by  the  verdict  of  arms  in  1918,  where, 
when  an  audience  of  over  one  thousand  had  assembled, 
the  Chairman  took  me  aside  and  said,  “Before  you  go 
upon  that  platform  it  seems  important  that  you  should 
know  that  most  of  those  in  that  assembly  are  against 
your  theory.  Do  not  be  disappointed  in  their  lack  of 
enthusiasm.”  But  at  the  close  there  was  a  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  approval  so  spontaneous,  so  sincere,  that  no 
doubt  remained  with  anyone  of  their  unbounded  joy 
in  the  hope  of  peace  and  their  disgust  for  militarism. 
Single  individuals  holding  the  opposite  view  were  met 
often,  but  never  one  collective  group  that  failed  to 
record  its  approval  of  the  theme  presented. 

From  1914  to  1918  there  were  encountered  a  few 
people  of  each  country  who  were  styled  “extreme  paci¬ 
fists,”  or  “conscientious  objectors,”  who  were  opposed 
to  war  upon  any  basis.  Small  in  number  as  they  were, 
they  presented  a  very  embarrassing  problem  to  many 
public  officials.  Some  were  sent  to  prison,  others  were 
shot.  Should  another  war  break  out,  I  venture  the  sug¬ 
gestion  that  there  will  be  found  one  thousand  “pacifists” 


224  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

where  there  was  one  found  in  1914.  The  whole  world 
is  being  filled  with  those  who  believe  that  the  “Thou 
shalt  not  kill”  of  the  Bible  ought  to  be  followed  even 
when  rulers  call  for  war.  If  prison  sentence  is  im¬ 
posed  upon  all  who  hold  this  view  next  time,  there  will 
not  be  prisons  enough  in  the  world  to  hold  them.  If 
death  is  the  verdict,  more  will  be  shot  as  pacifists  than 
in  battle.  This  conception  of  war  is  sweeping  around 
the  world  and  pervading  its  best  life  with  an  anti-war 
philosophy  so  pronounced  that  the  war  lords  had  best 
take  recognition  of  it  before  reaching  hasty  decisions. 
I  am  of  the  firm  opinion  that  if  some  vexed  interna¬ 
tional  tangle  should  arise,  and  the  diplomats  should 
confess  that  they  could  not  agree,  and  that  they  had 
decided  to  submit  the  case  to  popular  referendum  by 
all  those  of  voting  age,  men  and  women  of  every 
nation  involved,  the  result  would  be  ten  to  one  against 
resort  to  war. 

There  is  sentiment  enough  in  the  world  which  is  op¬ 
posed  to  war  and  in  favor  of  arbitration  as  a  method, 
that,  if  it  can  be  mobilized,  organized,  and  equipped  so 
that  it  can  function  in  international  crises,  it  will  pre¬ 
serve  the  world  from  more  wars.  If  other  conflicts 
break  out,  it  will  be  because  the  minorities  who  hold 
public  office  can  defeat  the  will  of  the  vast  majorities. 
Amid  all  the  somber  notes  and  the  discouraging  condi¬ 
tions,  this  one  is  worth  much  consideration  and  grati¬ 
tude.  The  People  will  some  day  find  an  adequate  way 
to  make  their  wishes  the  rule  of  the  world,  and  on 
that  day  all  war  proposals  will  be  “laid  on  the  table.” 


CONCLUSIONS 


225 


CONCLUSION  NUMBER  TWO 

The  present  methods  being  applied  to  settle  the  issues 
of  the  last  war  are  rapidly  adjusting  the  stage 
scenery  for  another  slaughter  of  the  innocent . 

I  am  quite  aware  that  this  sounds  very  much  like  a 
definite  contradiction  of  the  previous  statement,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  accurate  fact,  it  is,  for  in  every  city  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  where  in  public  meet¬ 
ings  of  a  large  popular  character  there  would  be  over¬ 
whelming  enthusiasm  for  the  proposals  of  peace,  in  re¬ 
sponse  to  prophecies  that  a  day  was  coming  when  wars 
would  cease  and  humanity  would  have  learned  a  better 
way,  notwithstanding  this  fact,  one  could  go  direct 
from  assemblies  of  this  character  into  more  limited  con¬ 
ferences  of  inside  men,  dealing  with  the  delicate  in¬ 
tricacies  of  the  readjustments  going  on,  and  there  dis¬ 
cover  chasms  of  differences  so  wide  and  deep  that  it 
would  seem  as  though  no  possible  settlement  could 
peacefully  be  made.  I  did  not  find  but  one  nation  in 
all  the  months  of  travel  in  which  I  was  not  called  upon 
to  listen  to  a  recitation  of  grievances  and  causes  for 
war.  Nobody  seems  satisfied.  Naturally  those  who 
lost  in  the  recent  war  and  have  been  penalized  are  won¬ 
dering,  way  down  deep  in  their  hearts,  whether  any 
other  fairer  settlement  is  possible  except  as  they  gain 
it  sometime  in  the  future  with  the  sword.  But  even 
the  nations  that  were  on  the  winning  side,  in  all  but  one 
instance  (Great  Britain),  are  feeling  that  they  did  not 
get  enough  and  perhaps  a  little  more  war  would  bring 
some  more  fruits  of  the  victory.  Then,  whereas  there 


226  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


were  one  or  two  quite  distinct,  definite  issues  in  the 
Great  War,  there  seem  now  to  be  a  hundred  entirely 
new  ones.  It  is  foolish  now  to  cry  “Peace,  Peace”  when 
there  is  no  peace,  and  can  be  no  peace  so  long  as  these 
serious  disagreements  exist  and  so  long  as  the  minds 
of  leaders  turn  to  military  action  as  the  only  remedy. 

In  addition  to  the  old  legacies  of  the  continental 
European  situation,  there  is  now  the  seething  unrest 
in  the  Orient.  Japan,  China,  and  India,  each  of  them 
shuddering  at  the  thought,  are  nevertheless  sordidly  led 
to  believe  that  eventually  they  will  have  to  accept  the 
sword  as  the  only  means  of  defense  from  the  boisterous 
invasions  of  the  Western  white  man.  Constantinople 
with  the  present  attitude  of  the  Turk  spells  inevitably 
war,  unless  something  else  takes  place  there  pretty 
promptly.  I  found  no  man  in  travel  who  could  give 
any  other  answer  to  the  present  Russian  situation  ex¬ 
cept  recourse  to  armies  and  navies.  The  border  be¬ 
tween  France  and  Germany  reminds  one  of  a  large  field 
of  race  horses,  champing  at  the  bit  to  be  away  for  the 
contest. 

It  is  a  strange  thing,  but  nevertheless  true,  that  with 
all  the  portrayals  of  the  horror  of  the  past  war,  and 
with  all  the  lessons  the  teachers  are  trying  to  instill  into 
the  diplomats  and  the  rulers  concerning  the  utter  fu¬ 
tility  of  the  process,  reminding  them  that  the  cataclysms 
of  death  and  suffering  from  1914  to  1918  did  not  settle 
any  of  the  questions  which  existed  previous  to  the  war, 
with  all  of  this  information  at  hand  and  all  the  essen¬ 
tial  facts  accepted,  and  with  the  common  people  in  vast 
majority  calling  for  peace,  the  manipulators  are  going 
steadily  forward  preparing  for  more  wars.  Almost 
every  nation  in  the  world  has  a  “chip  on  its  shoulder” 


CONCLUSIONS 


227 


of  some  kind,  and  with  plenty  of  near  neighbors  ready 
to  knock  it  off  at  a  moment’s  warning.  Therefore, 
unless  something  more  takes  place  than  has  taken 
place,  unless  some  new  kind  of  influence  is  brought 
to  bear,  unless  the  snarling  about  “reparations”  and 
territory  is  quieted,  more  war  is  sure  to  come, 
the  only  unknown  element  being  the  hours  in  the  calen¬ 
dar. 


CONCLUSION  NUMBER  THREE 

« 

There  is  need  for  a  world-wide  campaign  of  education 
to  tear  the  halo  completely  away  from  the  war 
story. 

War  as  a  method  is  a  very  deep-rooted  thing.  It  has 
been  followed  so  long  and  recognized  for  so  many 
centuries  as  the  only  method  of  recourse  in  times  of 
severe  variance  amid  peoples  of  different  races,  clans, 
cults,  and  nations,  that  many  who  are  in  the  present 
hour  weary  of  the  process,  with  hearts  sick,  turn  back 
and  say  it  seems  the  only  remedy  and  the  only  way.  A 
method  which  has  been  followed  so  long  that  the  mind 
of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary,  cannot  be  changed 
by  one  sudden  burst  of  disapproval.  The  present  at¬ 
titude  toward  war  is  the  result  of  centuries  of  training, 
and  worse  yet,  has  not  only  its  advantage  of  long  tra¬ 
dition,  but  the  fact  that  it  has  been  so  universally  glori¬ 
fied.  The  human  race  but  little  realizes  to-day  how 
thoroughly  it  is  committed  to  the  military  program  and 
how  unconsciously,  when  it  seeks  for  some  hour  of 
peculiar  ecstasy,  or  wishes  for  some  adequate  method 
in  recognition  of  any  great  event,  it  turns  to  glorifying 


228  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 


its  war  heroes.  War  has  been  exalted  in  poetry,  art, 
and  music.  The  school  children  of  a  thousand  years 
have  been  taught  in  their  histories  to  give  the  supreme 
place  in  admiration  to  military  heroes.  Parks  and 
boulevards  for  the  most  part  are  filled  with  monuments 
erected  to  the  memory  of  warriors  on  land  and  sea; 
sadder  yet,  as  already  referred  to,  even  the  churches 
have  pretty  largely  decorated  their  walls  with  emblems 
of  militarism. 

Something  by  way  of  education  must  be  brought  to 
bear,  to  make  war  horrible  instead  of  glorious.  All 
the  rules  of  war  must  eventually  be  changed,  for  now 
from  the  time  the  first  declaration  of  war  is  issued 
until  it  is  finished,  the  precedents  commonly  accepted 
are  those  which  carry  a  certain  amount  of  romantic 
halo  with  them.  I  would  like  to  suggest  a  few  changes 
in  the  rules  which  might  help  to  modify  this  glorifica¬ 
tion  idea. 

First:  If  war  is  the  only  way  and  no  other  method 
can  be  found  when  nations  disagree,  let  an  international 
law  be  passed  that  only  older  men  shall  be  sent  to  the 
front,  and  no  young  men  permitted  to  touch  it  in  any 
shape,  manner,  or  form.  It  would  make  a  vast  differ¬ 
ence  in  the  war  spirit  of  the  older  generation  if  it  was 
known  that  in  the  next  outbreak,  when  the  call  was 
issued,  only  men  from  forty-five  to  sixty-five  would 
be  eligible.  There  is  no  reason  now,  when  war  is  con¬ 
ducted  by  the  modern  methods,  why  a  man  of  sixty 
would  not  be  just  as  efficient  as  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
one.  This  suggestion  is  made  in  the  belief  that  it  is 
thoroughly  practicable  and  that  it  is  thoroughly  fair 
and  just,  for  the  wars  of  the  past  have  always  been 
brought  about  by  the  differences  of  older  men,  so 


CONCLUSIONS 


229 


metallic  that  they  had  lost  the  abilty  to  give  and  take. 
The  youth  of  1914  did  not  get  up  that  war.  Let  those 
of  the  older  generation  do  the  fighting  in  the  future. 

Second:  If  another  hour  comes  when  the  wise  men 
who  rule  can  find  no  other  way  out  except  by  measur¬ 
ing  arms  on  the  battle  field,  pass  an  international  law 
which  will  remove  entirely  the  economic  temptation. 
There  is  a  thoroughly  rooted  feeling  throughout  the 
world  that  greed  of  money,  financial  gain,  temporal 
profits,  have  been  a  great  factor  in  the  war-producing 
elements.  Such  a  law  might  well  demand  that  on  the 
day  the  war  is  declared  every  man  and  woman  in  the 
world  be  called  upon  to  sign  a  sworn  statement  as  to 
the  exact  amount  of  money  held  on  that  day,  and  might 
also  declare  that,  when  the  war  is  at  an  end,  every  man 
and  every  woman  shall  start  at  exactly  the  same  place, 
except  for  the  expenses  incident  to  the  war,  which 
ought  to  be  conscripted  to  pay  all  bills  of  the  war  every 
thirty  days.  To  remove  the  economic  temptation  would 
mean  in  the  first  place  that  no  individual  would  profit 
by  war  and  no  insulting,  indecent  profiteers  would  live 
after  the  war  to  menace  society.  In  the  second  place, 
it  would  mean  that  the  war  could  be  carried  on  only  as 
wealth  could  be  conscripted  during  the  activities,  and 
no  legacies  of  unbearable  debts  would  be  left  for  gen¬ 
erations  of  poor  people  to  struggle  with.  If  profiteer¬ 
ing  and  economic  gain  were  eliminated  from  the  war 
zone,  about  fifty  per  cent  of  the  sentiment  would  die. 

Third:  If  nations  must  go  to  war,  there  ought  to 
be  an  international  law  that  no  geography  should  change 
for  ten  years  after  the  war.  In  the  reference  made  to 
what  seems  the  inevitable  return  of  war,  that  statement 
is  very  largely  based  upon  the  fact  that  every  nation, 


230  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

with  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  of  those  proposing  to 
fight  again,  is  doing  so  in  the  face  of  what  it  believes 
are  impossible  geographical  limitations.  Humanity  has 
been  persuaded,  and  is  now  persuaded,  that  the  only 
remedy  for  adjustments  in  geography  is  fighting. 
Probably  there  was  no  more  disturbing  thing  in  the 
Versailles  Conference  than  the  geographical  question, 
the  undertaking  behind  closed  doors  arbitrarily  to  es¬ 
tablish  national  boundaries,  and  there  never  will  be 
peace  on  earth,  and  in  many  places  probably  ought  not 
to  be  peace,  until  a  new  appraisement  has  been  made  of 
those  more  natural,  racial,  economic,  moral,  and  re¬ 
ligious  interests  which  are  concerned  in  the  grouping 
of  people.  One  thing  is  clearly  apparent — geographical 
changes  ought  never  to  be  permitted  amid  the  passion 
of  war  when  the  victors,  filled  with  a  sense  of  power, 
are  thinking  only  of  their  own  views  and  have  no  care 
for  the  welfare  of  the  defeated. 

Fourth :  If  the  legislatures,  the  parliaments,  the  con¬ 
gresses,  and  the  political  ministers  can  find  no  way  to 
harmonize  their  quarrels,  and  finally  decide  that  they 
will  try  war,  an  international  law  should  exist,  which 
would  require  that  within  twenty-four  hours  after  such 
a  declaration  every  member  of  every  parliament,  every 
congress,  and  every  legislature  of  the  participating  na¬ 
tions,  shall  himself  go  to  the  front,  as  a  private  soldier, 
and  sleep  in  the  front-line  trenches  for  at  least  six 
months.  The  crime  of  war,  as  conducted  in  modern 
times,  is  that  the  men  who  sit  behind  the  scenes  and 
quarrel  and  finally  cry  war,  themselves  never  smell 
powder,  and  never  get  gassed,  except  from  talk  in  con¬ 
ference  rooms,  which  unfortunately  is  never  fatal.  As 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  more  or  less  familiar 


CONCLUSIONS 


231 


with  the  small  politicians  talking  of  war,  I  have  grown 
very  tired  of  hearing  these  men  in  hysterical  appeal 
cry  for  war,  when  they  themselves  will  never  get  far 
from  the  central  aisle  of  the  United  States  Senate.  A 
very  large  percentage  of  the  whole  war  possibility 
would  be  eliminated  throughout  the  world  by  a  little, 
simple,  fair  reasonable  international  law  of  this  kind. 
There  might  well  be  added,  as  a  “rider”  later,  a  pro¬ 
vision  that  no  officer,  either  in  the  army  or  navy,  should 
be  eligible  for  promotion  during  the  period  of  the  war. 
If  all  second  lieutenants  knew  the  day  war  commenced 
that  they  would  be  second  lieutenants  when  it  was  over, 
both  in  rank  and  compensation,  there  would  be  taken 
away  a  good  deal  of  the  inside  expectation  of  what  war 
might  do  in  the  realm  of  selfish  personal  advancement. 

Fifth.  If  the  hour  comes  when  those  in  authority 
find  it  impossible  to  agree  and  have  deliberately  reached 
the  war  conclusion,  an  international  law  should  be  in 
existence  that  the  final  act  could  not  be  consummated 
until  there  had  been  a  referendum  in  all  the  nations 
involved  and  that  upon  that  particular  issue  only 
mothers  should  be  permitted  to  vote.  This  comment 
is  not  made  as  fantastic,  it  is  not  made  as  purely  hypo¬ 
thetical,  but  it  is  brought  forward  as  a  real  genuine 
proposal.  Motherhood  travails  from  the  beginning  of 
life  to  its  end  for  the  manhood  the  world  must  have. 
Motherhood  is  paying  a  price,  the  like  of  which  parlia¬ 
mentarians  in  their  highly  nervous  debates  have  never 
reckoned  with.  Those  who  pay  the  largest  price,  those 
who  give  birth  to  sons  who  may  be  conscripted,  have  a 
right  to  say  whether  the  cause  justifies  the  method  pro¬ 
posed.  This  is  not  meant  as  a  suggestion  that  the  vote 
would  inevitably  be  in  the  negative,  for  if  the  issue  were 


232  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

a  great  moral  and  spiritual  one,  clear  and  well  defined, 
if  the  issue  were  one  that  involved  the  sacrifice  of  home 
and  the  preservation  of  virtue,  motherhood  would  not 
fail  at  the  ballot  box. 

Sixth :  If  finally,  after  every  word  has  been  spoken, 
war  is  the  decision,  an  international  law  should  so  con¬ 
trol  the  operations  that  they  would  be  conducted  only 
out  in  the  heart  of  the  Sahara  Desert,  taken  away  from 
the  view  of  humanity,  and  the  fighting  would  be  done  in 
the  loneliness  of  the  wilds,  in  an  arid  spot,  that,  there¬ 
fore,  humanity  should  be  less  shocked  by  the  horror  of 
the  slaughter  and  the  torture  of  the  warfare. 

To  guard  against  any  feeling  that  perhaps  these  sug¬ 
gestions  are  impossible  and  are  offered  as  only  purely 
imaginary,  the  author  wishes  to  say  he  believes  them 
seriously  and  genuinely  possible,  with  a  single  excep¬ 
tion  it  may  be  of  the  Sixth.  Otherwise,  they  are  prac¬ 
ticable,  and  if  worked  out  would  take  away  the  glory 
which  now  seems  to  hang  about  the  whole  mention  of 
war. 


CONCLUSION  NUMBER  FOUR 

There  never  will  be  continuous  peace  till  some  form  of 
open  democratic  diplomacy  is  discovered  and 
adopted. 

The  writer  has  no  political  ambitions  and  frankly 
admits  no  special  wisdom  concerning  the  intricacies  of 
government,  above  that  of  the  average  man.  But  it 
does  not  take  superior  knowledge,  in  a  journey  around 
the  world,  visiting  nineteen  capitals,  and  coming  in 
contact  with  educational,  political,  and  religious  leaders, 


CONCLUSIONS 


233 


to  discover  that  the  present  kind  of  diplomatic  pro¬ 
cesses,  so  largely  secret,  have  been  the  curse  of  the 
world.  It  has  been  disheartening  beyond  any  expres¬ 
sion  to  learn  more  and  more  of  the  intrigues  within 
intrigues,  of  the  bargainings  within  bargainings,  of  the 
deceptions  practiced  on  top  of  other  deceptions, 
throughout  all  the  activities  in  these  warring  nations 
from  1914  to  the  present  hour — most  of  these  being 
carried  out  behind  closed  doors  by  a  few  so-called  dip¬ 
lomats.  Secret  compacts  are  always  a  menace  any¬ 
where.  I  have  seen  religious  organizations,  whose  har¬ 
mony  and  power  have  been  marred  and  almost  defeated 
by  the  presence  of  some  little  self-appointed  gathering 
behind  closed  doors  assuming  supreme  ability  to  make 
programs  and  arrangements  for  all  the  unsophisticated 
outside.  Commercial  and  educational  history  tells  the 
same  story.  There  are  many  evidences  of  the  weakness 
of  this  system  in  every  walk  of  life,  but  at  no  point 
is  it  so  pernicious  as  when  it  involves  international  alli¬ 
ances  and  agreements.  The  secret  conferences  of  the 
past  have  been  the  curse  of  the  human  race,  and  the 
new  ones  made  now  are  forerunners  of  more  violence. 

The  past  ten  years  have  witnessed  no  sadder  tragedy 
than  the  mistaken,  exalted  view  which  the  “Big  Four” 
had  of  themselves  at  the  Versailles  Conference.  When 
those  four  men,  whatever  may  have  been  their  motives, 
were  led  to  believe  that  they  were  so  much  more  im¬ 
portant  than,  not  only  their  compatriots  and  colleagues 
of  that  conference,  but  than  all  the  people  in  the  nations 
they  represented,  they  not  only  wrecked  the  largest  use¬ 
fulness  of  the  League  of  Nations,  but  they  also  made 
havoc  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace.  If  the  open  democratic 
method  had  been  followed  concerning  the  League  of 


234  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

Nations,  America  would  doubtless  be  a  member  of 
that  League  to-day,  and  if  so  the  whole  story  from 
1918  to  1922  would  have  been  different.  One  hundred 
million  people  in  the  United  States  waited  anxiously 
for  some  information,  but  none  came  till  it  was  too 
late  to  remedy  the  mistakes  which  had  been  made  in 
the  secret  room,  where  only  one  mind  was  thinking 
for  a  whole  nation.  If  those  four  men  had  opened  the 
door  and  felt  that  there  was  more  wisdom  in  the  uni¬ 
verse  than  that  which  they  took  in  with  them,  it  would 
have  been  a  vastly  better  world  to  live  in  now.  Sad  as 
is  that  lesson,  it  seems  at  this  moment  doubtful  as  to 
whether  it  has  been  sufficiently  impressed,  for  already 
the  same  method  is  beginning  to  be  adopted. 

Inside  alliances  are  again  being  rumored.  All  the 
conferences  held  from  Washington  to  the  Hague  may 
do  their  best  to  patch  up  the  world  now  for  a  few 
months,  but  if  behind  the  scenes  more  secret  contracts 
are  being  made,  more  selfish  compacts  entered  into,  by 
which  a  little  group  is  planning  to  get  the  best  of  the 
rest  of  the  world,  then  it  is  perfect  folly  to  talk  about 
peace.  War  will  come  to  the  world  in  exactly  the 
measure  of  the  iniquity  of  secret  diplomacy. 

CONCLUSION  NUMBER  FIVE 

There  is  need  for  some  method  which  can  lift  the 
negotiations  out  of  the  sordid  rut  of  economics. 

After  hearing  this  statement  made  in  substance  in  a 
hundred  places,  in  introductions  made  at  great  public 
meetings  and  functions,  and  after  reading  it  in  news¬ 
papers  and  hearing  it  commented  upon  in  travel  by  men 


CONCLUSIONS 


235 

of  every  kind  and  condition,  it  seems  almost  a  common¬ 
place  to  relate  it  in  a  survey  of  this  kind,  but  perhaps 
its  wide  presence  is  an  added  evidence  of  its  importance 
and  sufficient  to  warrant  repetition  again  and  again. 
The  fact  is  the  war  broke  out  in  1914  when  materialism 
was  running  rampant,  demanding  first  consideration 
over  all  else  of  human  concern.  There  may  have  been 
supplementary  questions,  but  fundamentally  at  least 
the  selfish  materialistic  idea  prevailed  and  war  was  its 
method.  If  that  was  true  in  1914,  the  following  years 
can  be  said  to  have  permitted  materialism  to  go  clear 
mad.  The  world  is  crazy  with  its  desire  for  greed,  and 
rights,  and  property,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  repro¬ 
duce  that  war,  plus  all  that  will  go  with  another  one,  is 
to  continue  long  enough  to  have  conferences,  with  the 
incessant  cry  for  money,  money,  and  then  add  to  that 
the  supplementary  discussions  of  geographical  terri¬ 
tory.  Then  the  prophecy  of  war  will  be  a  reality. 

I  chanced  to  read  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Willard 
D.  Straight,  written,  by  the  way,  long  before  the  war, 
this  observation :  “The  need  of  Europe  in  this  hour 
is  to  discover  some  new  kind  of  morality  which  will  be 
strong  enough  to  bind  the  people  together  and  save 
them  from  the  peril  of  an  economic  war.” 

This  same  sentiment  in  varying  forms  can  be  heard 
in  every  nook  and  corner.  It  was  listened  to  as  enunci¬ 
ated  by  Buddhists,  Hindus,  and  even  by  Mohammedans, 
as  well  as  by  Christians  of  all  names,  and  people  who 
said  they  had  no  religious  affiliations  at  all.  There¬ 
fore,  the  hope  of  the  world  lies  now  in  those  agencies 
and  institutions  that  know  the  language  of  the  higher 
morality  and  of  a  humanity  concerned  with  ideals  of 
service,  rather  than  those  of  gain  and  profit.  The  uni- 


236  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

versities  can  help,  the  schools  and  colleges  have  a  large 
place,  the  peace  organizations  of  every  kind  and  name 
are  of  immense  value,  religious  organizations  of  what¬ 
ever  faith  may  be  vital  factors,  but  returning  once  more 
to  that  which  is  believed  more  profoundly  than  anything 
else,  this  is  the  task  to  which  the  Christian  Church  must 
give  itself  and  let  every  other  thing  become  of  secondary 
importance. 

A  great  British  official  said  to  me  at  the  close  of  a 
meeting  at  which  he  had  taken  the  chair :  “Mr.  Smith, 
there  ought  to  be  a  thousand  men  traveling  up  and 
down  the  world  proclaiming  this  sentiment,  for  there 
is  a  respite  now  and  in  my  judgment  another  outbreak 
will  not  occur  upon  a  wide  scale  for  at  least  five  years. 
This  is  your  chance.  Fill  the  world  with  this  idea,  and 
war  may  be  averted.  Leave  the  world  to  follow  the 
processes  now  being  adopted,  and  war  is  as  inevitable 
as  the  rising  of  the  sun.” 

FINALLY 

The  author  wishes  to  express  a  sentiment  which 
would  doubtless  be  voiced  by  millions  in  various  parts 
of  the  world  were  they  to  have  it  brought  to  their  atten¬ 
tion.  There  doubtless  is  a  sense  of  profound  regret 
that  the  numerous  warnings  of  approaching  war  heard 
from  1910  forward  were  not  taken  more  seriously.  I 
sat  at  dinner  once  in  Paris,  in  the  home  of  a  great 
Frenchman  who,  with  evident  emotion,  said  he  felt  a 
sort  of  crusade  ought  to  be  launched  throughout  the 
world  to  stop  the  war  which  was  surely  on  its  way  and 
would  involve  at  least  France  and  Germany  if  not  all 
Europe.  I  remember  the  only  comment  made  to  my 


CONCLUSIONS 


237 


friend  was  that  he  was  “a  little  nervous  and  tired  and 
needed  a  rest.”  Shortly  after  that  when  crossing  the 
English  Channel,  a  Britisher  whose  eyesight  was  nearly 
gone  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  ship  and,  pointing  across 
toward  the  north,  said,  “Unless  something  is  done 
pretty  soon,  we  on  this  side  of  the  sea  are  going  to  be 
in  a  terrible  war.”  His  remarks  were  not  taken  seri¬ 
ously,  but  regarded  as  rather  the  normal  condition  of 
the  European  mind.  No  feeling  of  the  seriousness  of 
a  great  catastrophe  was  produced. 

In  1911,  it  was  my  rare  privilege,  and  very  sad  ex¬ 
perience,  to  have  invited  the  great  William  T.  Stead  to 
come  to  the  United  States  to  deliver  an  address  upon 
“The  Principles  of  Universal  Peace,”  at  a  convention 
to  be  held  in  Carnegie  Hall.  After  listening  to  the 
proposal  and  the  invitation,  this  wise  man  of  discerning 
mind  pointed  out  of  his  window  in  the  direction  of  the 
English  Channel  and  said :  “It  is  a  perfect  farce  for 
me  to  go  to  the  United  States  to  deliver  such  an  address 
when  we  here  are  getting  ready  for  the  damnedest  war 
the  world  has  ever  seen.”  The  only  answer  made  to 
Mr.  Stead's  somber  anticipation  was  :  “Mr.  Stead,  this 
is  one  of  your  off  days.  You  will  feel  better  to¬ 
morrow.”  He,  however,  accepted  the  invitation,  but 
never  delivered  the  address,  for  he  was  a  passenger  on 
the  ill-fated  Titanic  and  went  down  with  the  brave. 
The  address  which  he  was  to  have  given  was  delivered 
by  Dr.  MacDonald,  then  the  editor  of  the  Toronto 
Globe.  Those  who  heard  him  will  never,  never  be  able 
to  forget  that  hour  as  he  repeatedly  remarked,  “Stead 
would  have  said  if  he  were  here”  this  and  this,  but 
probably  the  clause  which  thrilled  the  people  most  was 
the  prophecy  that  unless  something  was  done  in  the 


238  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PEACEMAKERS 

world  promptly,  another  terrible  war  would  break  out 
in  Europe.  While  the  impression  was  strongly  made, 
the  feeling  generally  was  that  even  Mr.  MacDonald 
was  a  little  overwrought  by  the  tragic  death  of  his  life¬ 
long  friend  and  had,  therefore,  painted  the  picture  in 
colors  rather  too  high. 

All  who  lived  during  those  years,  sensitive  to  the 
horror  of  what  has  taken  place  in  the  world,  cherish  a 
feeling  of  supreme  regret  that  the  warnings  were  not 
heeded,  and  that  at  least  an  earnest,  serious,  world-wide 
effort  was  not  made  to  stay  the  calamity.  No  adequate 
protest  was  heard,  the  storm  gathered,  the  clouds  broke, 
the  fury  came.  History  cannot  yet  tell  the  tale  of  the 
results. 

The  warnings  are  more  serious  now.  It  is  suggested 
that  war  may  break  out  not  only  over  Flanders  fields 
again,  but  in  a  hundred  other  places,  and  the  general 
feeling  is  that  if  it  starts  furiously  at  any  one  of  these 
hundred  places,  it  may  involve  the  other  ninety-nine. 

The  world  is  filled  with  peace-loving  people.  There 
is  scarcely  a  spot  now  but  that  somewhere  someone  is 
preaching  a  sermon,  or  delivering  an  address,  or  writing 
an  article  upon  the  virtues  of  “peace  on  earth,  good 
will  to  men.”  To  this  innumerable  company  there  re¬ 
mains  in  this  hour  the  solemn  duty  to  make  a  protest 
against  war  so  strong,  so  intelligent,  so  profound,  that 
if  war  occurs,  none  will  be  compelled  to  say,  “We  failed 
to  do  our  duty  in  trying  to  teach  humanity  a  better 
method  of  living.” 

Certainly  1922  is  not  silent  with  its  voice  of  alarm. 
No  metropolitan  center  exists  but  that  many  of  the  fore¬ 
most  citizens  are  saying,  “Another  war  is  going  to 
break  out  some  day.” 


CONCLUSIONS 


239 


This  book,  with  all  involved  in  it,  is  written  and  dedi¬ 
cated  in  the  hope  of  universal,  unbroken,  enduring, 
unchanging 


Peace  on  Earth ,  Good  Will  to  All  Men . 


DATE  DUE 

1 1  i  a  i  4 

JokTH 

DEMCO  38-297 

